Heroes of Olympus: The Mark of Athena
by TheWorldBookGirl
Summary: Complete! My version of MoA.
1. I Annabeth

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO or HoO, even though I do own paperback copies of The Son of Neputne, TBotL, and TLO.**

**Please read and review!**

**A/N: I swear by the river Styx that I will update this story at least once a week if possible. If it isn't, then I will do my best to get it updated ASAP to that date that I was supposed to update.  
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><p><span>Annabeth<span>

Annabeth looked out over the horizon and sighed. She had a feeling that this would be the last time she'd see camp for quite a while.

It's been seven months, she thought sadly. Seven months since Percy had disappeared. Seven months of Percy's life taken away, and it felt like seven months of Annabeth's life had been torn away from her. When She saw Hera next, someone was going to get a huge punch in her face. Ever since Percy had called his mom and Paul, Annabeth couldn't decide how she felt. Anger towards Hera? Confusion about everything? Anxiety about Percy? Scared because it was becoming slightly harder to remember every pore on Percy's face? She didn't know. The only thing she cared about right now was finding Percy.

Annabeth turned around and climbed up the _Argo II_'s ladder. Once she was up, she heard Leo yelling, "What's my title? Am I like admiral, or captain, or-"

"Repair boy," a certain daughter of Aphrodite shouted back.

"Very funny, Piper," Leo grumbled. Then he turned back to a spread out scroll of parchment. "So yeah, I'm...ah...supreme commander of the _Argo II_. Yeah, I like that! Anyway, we're gonna be sailing toward you in about, I dunno, an hour in this big warship. We'd appreciate it if you'd not, like, blow us out of the sky or anything. So okay! If you could tell the Romans that. See you soon. Yours in demigodishness, and all that. Peace out." Then he yelled, "Okay, Jason! It's ready!"

Jason grabbed the scroll and threw it over the edge of he boat, into the air.

"What was that?" Annabeth asked, walking up behind Piper.

"It was a message for Percy. We figured you wouldn't want to be the one to do the talking."

"Yeah. Thanks, Piper. So I guess we'll be leaving in about five minutes?"

"That's about how long it'll take for the message to get to he Romans. So I guess so."

Annabeth nodded and headed down to the room she'd be staying in during the quest. They had three rooms. One had three beds, another had four, and he last had two beds. Annabeth was betting that one new girl and one new boy would be coming from the Roman camp along with Percy, so she dumped her duffel bag, backpack, and laptop off on the bed farthest from the door in the three-bedded room.

When Annabeth got back on the deck of the _Argo II_, she found that a crowd had gathered beneath the warship to send them off. Chiron was one of them. His eyes seemed to say, "I will miss you, child. Find Percy and do what's right. I know you will." Annabeth smiled at him.

There was a huge lurch, and the ship began to rise. There were cheers from both on the deck of the ship and below. The sails billowed, filling with air. Annabeth looked up at them, remembering the ship when she and Percy were in the Sea of Monsters. Sure this ship was newer, but if only Percy would be there, it would have seemed exactly the same.

When Annabeth looked down, one more face had appeared, but it wasn't any regular face. Gaea's features seemed to be carved into the rock. No one, on the ground or on the ship seemed to notice it except for her and Jason.

_You won't save anyone in the end you know. Give up and follow me. You will live and I will protect the ones you love._

"Never," bother her and Jason said at the same time.

Gaea chuckled. _But in the end you will. When you find the Daughter of Zeus, you will give up._

"That's why Thalia never came!" Jason murmured.

"What have you done with her, Gaea?" Annabeth growled. The boat had traveled a ways, but Gaea's huge face was still visible. In response, the Earth goddess laughed again. Everything turned back to normal and Annabeth turned to see Piper and Leo staring at her and Jason.

"What were you guys saying about Thalia?" Piper asked.

"Yeah! Hey, Jason, is she coming?" Leo asked, a spark of hope in his voice.

"No. She's apparently been captured or something." Jason briefly explained their exchange with Gaia.

"I think old dirty is getting restless. She knows we'll start the quest soon, but she doesn't seem to be trying to stop us. She's using us as her tools, not as her enemies," Leo said. Since when had he become so wise?

"Yeah. I'll admit it's weird that she's not stopping us," Annabeth admitted.

During the next fifteen minutes Annabeth read an architecture book while Leo went around the boat checking the mechanics and so forth and Piper and Jason stood at the stern of the boat in silence.

"Okay guys. The supreme commander of the _Argo II_ says that the boats going into override mode in three…two…one…now!" On the last word, Leo and Jason used both their powers –mechanics and air respectively–to push the flying boat to its maximum speed. After half an hour of blurred landscape passing by, the boat slowed down. The quartet of demigods had reached the border of California. Camp Jupiter was only a few minutes away.

"It's a bit further north, Leo. No, that's south! Yeah, now go about fifty kilometers that way." Jason was now directing Leo to the Roman Camp.

Annabeth stared out at the wide expanse of cities stretched out before her. Her mind was a knot of emotions, ideas, and actions. It was like a single piece of string that couldn't be untied by anyone, much less herself. Piper walked up from behind her and stood next to her. They watched the hills roll by.

"It's been months since I've seen my family. A whole year," Annabeth said. She didn't know why she said it. Maybe it was because they were flying over San Francisco city line.

"Why a whole year?"

"I was working on rebuilding Olympus after the Titan war, and I didn't have any time to come back to California."

"Your dad lives in San Francisco?"

Annabeth nodded. "And my stepmother and half brothers." Piper stayed silent next to Annabeth. "You see that house with the red roof and a plane in the extra lot nearby? That's my house."

"You're just trying to keep your mind off Percy." Annabeth could tell that it wasn't a question but a statement. It felt good to have those words spoken out loud.

"Thanks Piper. Really."

"Yeah."

Leo and Jason walked up to them just then. "Piper, Annabeth, we're heading to detention," Leo said.

"What?" Annabeth asked, weirded out a bit.

"It's where all roads lead," Leo sighed in a _this-should-be-so-obvious_ way. "Or at least it is foe demigods. In other words, we're just about at Rome."


	2. II Annabeth

**I'm updating... Just like I said I would! Do you think the SoN is a sacred book? Well if you do, type the number 6 in your review (as it's technically the sixth book of the PJO series, even though it's part of the HoO series).**

**I don't own PJO or HoO. If I did, none of the books would be as awesome as they are, they wouldn't have become famous, I wouldn't have discovered fanfiction, and none of them would have been published on time.**

**REVIEW QUESTION: Who do you think Leo should end up with? Open answer.**

**When the print is underlined, that means you don't have to read it unless you want to, because all it's doing is summing things up from previous books.**

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><p>Annabeth was the last off the ship after Leo, Jason, and Piper. A few kids were still just running up to the large crowd that was staring up at them. The girl who was standing at the front had coal-black hair and eyes to match.<p>

"I-I know you. I met you at Circe's Island about four years back," Annabeth stated.

"That would have been my sister, Hylla, who you met. She is currently queen of the Amazons. However, I know do you, Annabeth. I should thank you for being the reason I'm here. But that's to talk about later. I'm Reyna, daughter of Bellona and praetor of the twelfth legion." Then turning to Leo and Piper she pretty much commanded, "Please introduce yourselves."

Piper stepped forward first. "I'm Piper, daughter of Aphrodite."

"Last name?"

Piper sighed. Of course she didn't want to say it. Annabeth wouldn't either if her dad was the most famous actor in Hollywood. "McLean. I'm Piper McLean."

Reyna nodded then glared at Leo. No one needed to hear him to see that he could get annoying. "Supreme Commander of the _Argo II_, Leo Valdez, here. I am naturally son of the awesomest god, Hephaestus. For you Romans that's, uh, Vulcan." He glanced at Annabeth for confirmation. She nodded.

"Wonderful," Reyna replied in distaste. "And you, Annabeth."

"Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena," she said in a clipped tone. She would have added her favorite title, but she didn't want to be showy. Plus, she was just too anxious to find Percy.

"And as you can all see our ex-praetor, Jason, has returned with these Greeks." A murmur spread through the crowd at these words and Jason looked slightly confused. "They have come from a camp for demigods in Long Island. Instead of being descended form the Roman aspect of the gods, they're children of the Greek aspects."

"I wonder how many times Apollo's told them they've got split personality problems," Leo whispered _very_ loudly. A few giggles spread throughout the crowd.

"And they have come here to help us defeat Gaea."

"How do you know you can trust them?" a voice called out from the crowd. "They have Jason! They have a _warship _with them! They are here to attack us! I challenge one of you to offer them a sign of peace and see if they keep it."

"Okay, I will." Annabeth's heart skipped a beat as a head of shaggy black hair and sea-green eyes came out of the crowd. Percy had what looked like a purple sheet folded up, along with a pin. "I belong in Camp Half Blood, and Jason belongs here. We're leaders for each of our camps, so it only makes sense if Jason is still in charge here."

Then, turning to Jason, Percy said, "They'll trust your judgment more than mine. You need to lead them. Plus, it doesn't even feel right to me."

Annabeth's heart sank. Percy hadn't even looked at her. _Hera must be keeping his memories for now,_ she thought. But that was immediately pushed out of her mind as Percy smiled at her.

"Percy, you _do_ realize what you're giving up, right?" Jason asked his Greek almost equivalent in bewilderment.

"Yeah. So?"

The whole crowd just stood gawking at the move Percy had just made. Percy didn't seem to notice because he turned his attention to Annabeth. "Hey, Wise Girl." That cute little crooked grin that Annabeth loved spread across his face. Most of the people in the crowd probably thought that she was going to smile back at him or something, but instead she walked up to him.

And punched him in the stomach. Percy doubled over in pain, and Annabeth pretended not to notice that his mark of Achilles must have worn off. "Why didn't you contact me? You contacted Tyson and your mom and Paul! But you didn't contact _me?_ I'd almost believe that you were going to call Rachel before you called me."

"I…um…I wanted to call you, but we only got one chance at a phone, so I called my mom and Paul because I knew that my mom would be the most worried. Then when I finished, the train we were going on started to leave, so…"

"Percy, you're _such_ a Seaweed Brain sometimes. But that's why I love you." Annabeth whispered the last part in his ear, and then they kissed. She didn't care that everyone was staring at them and that some were cheering. She just cared that she had Percy in her arms and that they were back together after seven months of being separated.

They came apart and Reyna broke the crowd's silence. "Back to your duties, everyone! I'll be giving them a tour. Hazel, Frank, you guys stay here."

Once everyone had left except for Piper, Leo, Jason, Percy, Reyna, Annabeth, and two other demigods, Reyna continued. "Introductions before anything else. Those from the Greek camp, this is Hazel, daughter of Pluto." She gestured to a dark-skinned girl who was about thirteen or fourteen with curly black hair. "And this is Frank, son of Mars, and centurion." Reyna now gestured to a bulky Chinese boy with a babyish face. "Both are in the fifth cohort. Now, follow me to and we'll talk at the office."

Annabeth noted that Reyna still scowled at Leo, who was smiling at her. _Well,_ she thought, _she does have everything he likes… Power, beauty, out-of-his-leagueness. _The troop of half-bloods followed Reyna to a road near the field they'd landed on. They took a right and headed towards a collection of buildings that Annabeth guessed were the cabins. After passing through a set of gates though, she knew that they definitely weren't cabins. Up close, they looked less camp-like and more army-like. Barracks. On their right was a set of building with wonderful architecture. The steam coming out from the doors signaled that they were baths. The group took a right, walked past a place that looked like a bank, a couple of houses, and into what were probably camp headquarters.

Annabeth was so marveled by the architecture that she hadn't even noticed that Reyna had stopped walking until she spoke.

"Please tell us your side of this game that Juno is playing. Then we'll tell you our side." That sounded like more of a command than a request.

"As you know, I went was taken from here in November," Jason began. "In December I woke up on a school bus next to Piper and Leo on a field trip to the Grand Canyon. Everyone seemed to know me and remember me except for a satyr. Oh yeah, Juno wiped my memory also. Anyhow, some _venti_ attacked us and took the satyr – Gleeson Hedge. Then Annabeth and a son of Iris named Butch picked us up and brought us to Camp Half-Blood. Juno issued me a quest, and I asked Piper and Leo to come along. We took a bronze dragon named Festus to save Hera and-"

"You rode on Happy the dragon to save the queen of the gods?" Reyna asked.

"Uh...yeah…" Jason trailed off at the end.

"So first we went to Quebec and met Boreas, or Aquilon, and got his help to find Aeolus. On our way to Chicago to get the _anemoi theuali, _ or _venti_, Jason and I got captured by a trio of Cyclopes. Leo set us free and then we set off again to Chicago. When we got there, we waited for a while and had dinner in the sewers, which was actually better than it sounds. Afterwards, we found Medea's department store where Leo and Jason tried to kill each other because of her charmspeaking influence." Piper gestured for Leo to go on.

"We rescued Coach Hedge and took the storm spirits, then left and eventually found ourselves at King Midas' house where Festus ended up dying. He turned Piper and me to gold, but Jason awesomely defeated him and we got turned back to regular, living, organic life forms. 

"We made our way to a mountain, where the hunters of Artemis found us while they were chasing Lycaon. Then Jason had a happy reunion with his sister, Thalia, who's the lieutenant of the huntresses. She told him the full story about how they got separated and all that mushy stuff. Eventually we made it to Aeolus's palace, and returned the storm spirits to him. He told us that the giant Enceladus was at Mount Diablo and then got some call and tried to kill us. We escaped and Aphrodite landed us in San Fran.

"We got up the mountain, Jason defeated the old enchilada, we rescued Piper's dad, and made our way to the airport where we dropped Mr. McLean and Coach Hedge off. We got to the Wolf House and rescued Gaea. Jason got his memory back after a while and we built the _Argo II_ to come here and then go to Greece to defeat all the giants." Leo acted like he was out of breath, which was no doubt easy.

Then Hazel stood up. "That was really similar to us…. Percy came here carrying Juno with no memory except for his name and Annabeth's." Annabeth could feel her face getting hot. "The gorgons – minus Medusa – were chasing him. They captured Frank, but Percy controlled the water in the Little Tiber and destroyed them. He got accepted into camp later on. Mars claimed Frank after the war games, and Mars gave him a quest to free Thanatos that he said Percy had to go on. I went with them. We set off to Alaska on the navy's rowboat, Pax. 

"I blacked out for a while, so Percy and Frank brought me to shore. Some time after I woke up, these grain spirits tried to kidnap me, but I latched onto a rock. When Frank and Percy came to where I was, an army of monsters began filing past a store and us. There was a giant that was made to oppose Neptune and when he passed by, Percy got all feverish so when the monsters were a safe distance away, we went into the store hoping that someone in there would be able to help us. It wound up that Iris ran the store, and she did help us. Oh yeah, the giant also dropped some basilisks outside the store, and Frank destroyed them."

"We went back to the boat and kept on going north," Percy continued where Hazel had left off. "Iris had told us to go to Oregon and meet Phineas, because he could help us. When we got there, Phineas told us that he would tell us where Thanatos was if we captured the harpy that was quicker than the rest. When we got to her, we found out that she memorizes everything she reads word for word. We became friends with her and made a deal with Phineas. Frank had two flasks of gorgon's blood – one from each side of the gorgon. One would heal, and the other would kill instantly. I told him that we would each choose blindly, um, in a sense. Man, two bad puns in a row…. Anyhow, we both chose one, and I chose the one that healed and that revived my memory. Of course Phineas died, but he'd written the place where Thanatos was on a piece of paper.

"Ella the Harpy came with us and we kept on going north and found ourselves in Washington, where Reyna had told us to go and see her sister Hylla. We went to the Amazon head office and found out that the Amazons used the company as their cover. Frank and I got put into one of their jail cells and Hazel was kept to talk to. Hylla told her how to get away using Arion, the fastest horse alive. Hazel rescued us and we left for Alaska. When we got to Alaska, we headed to Frank's house. Your turn."

"I had a talk with Mars and then with my grandmother. The next morning, the Laistrygonians had surrounded the house, so I told Percy, Hazel, and Ella to go on while I tried to hold them off. Eventually we were in a car, heading towards a small landing strip. Ella refused to come with us, so she hid in the woods. We took a plane to some city in Alaska, then kept on making our way to where Thanatos was chained. We had to stop off in the place where Hazel used to live when she was in Alaska.

"There was lots of walking and car riding and other stuff until Arion met back up with us. We rode him to where Camp Jupiter used to be up there. The spirits of the old demigods that used to live there were being controlled by Alcyoneus were fighting us. Percy took them while Hazel was distracting the giant and I was freeing Thanatos. Just after I freed Thanatos, Percy stabbed his sword into the glacier, and he and the spirits all fell into the ocean below." There were gasps from everyone but Percy, Hazel, Frank and Annabeth. She was smirking. "Hazel and I dragged Alcyoneus out of Alaska using Arion, then destroyed him. When we came back, Percy was standing there, looking absolutely fine…he said he'd fallen twice that far from the St. Louis Arch. Yeah. We came back to camp and found Ella, Tyson, and Mrs. O'Leary. We all went into battle with the rest of camp against a bunch of monsters, and Percy defeated the giant Polybotes with the help of Terminus."

A silence filled the giant room. Annabeth distracted herself by studying the different architecture techniques and features of the building. How they made the arches on the ceiling, the alignment of the pillars, the shape of the room in contrast to the shape of the hall outside…

"Well, I think that clears quite a bit up. Percy, you said that this all has something to do with the Prophecy of the Seven?" Reyna asked.

"The Great Prophecy, yeah," Percy replied. "The seven half-bloods are here right now. Jason, Leo, and Piper rescued Hera or Juno, whatever you want to call her. Plus, Jason defeated Krios and Enchilada."

"Um, Percy? It's Enceladus."

"Same, same. Hazel, Frank, and I all went on a quest to free Thanatos. I defeated Kronos and Alcyoneus. And the last one is Annabeth. I'm sorry Reyna, but she definitely is. I'm not just saying that because she's my girlfriend. She helped me defeat Kronos. And she's wicked with a knife."

"I'm especially sorry Reyna, but I second that," Jason said. Annabeth's attention snapped away from the architecture at those comments.

"You haven't seen me fight, Jason. Why would you second it?"

"Just like I said in December. You're the smartest, most calculative person I've ever met. You need to be there."

"But Reyna's a daughter of the war goddess. Wouldn't that help in battle?"

"Um…"

"Why don't we have a duel to see who the last member of the new Argonauts will be," Reyna suggested. "Whoever has the better fighting skills will go on the quest. That way you'll get both great fighting skills and another bonus – either smarts or battlefield power."

"Sounds fair," Annabeth agreed. This would be fun, she thought, fingering a cap in her pocket that she was rather fond of.

"But we only use standard camp weapons. Knives for each of us, I take it?"

"Yeah."

"Good. I'll see you in the Coliseum at around twelve. Jelly bean?" Reyna held out a bowl with a few Jelly Bellys in it.

"Sure," Annabeth said. She was sure there was a slightly evil glint in her eye, seeing as that even Percy backed away a tiny bit.

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><p><strong>Hm... I seem to like Annabeth punching Percy then kissing him... It just seems like her, you know? And it reminds me of How to Train Your Dragon. Do you like it when Annabeth does that?<strong>

**Here's a sample review that would be helpful:**

6, _, yes/no.  
>I didn't like _. Instead of that you could have _. I think you need more _. I liked when _. In the next chapter, it would be cool if _.<p>

**Get the gist? Hopefully! NO FLAMING! Constructive criticism allowed!**


	3. III Jason

***Stares at inbox with wide eyes*******

**Me: Oh. My. Gods.**

**Some Random Person (SRP): What?**

**Me: I LOVE MY INBOX!**

**SRP: Why?**

**Me: It's called reviews, favorites, and story alerts!**

**SRP: How many do you have of each?**

**Me: *Goes and checks fanfiction legacy story stats***

**Me: 77 alerts, 41 favorites, 27 reviews, and 3347 hits just for TWO CHAPTERS!**

**SRP: Why should I care?**

**Me: Because you should!**

**SRP: Well, shouldn't you tell those people who alerted you but haven't reviewed to review?**

**Me: No. I don't want to be one of those people who demand reviews even though they've got a perfectly fine amount.**

**SRP: Oh! Oh! Your mistake! And the review!**

**Me: RIGHT! I accidentally said that The SoN is technically the 6****th**** book in the PJO series, but it's really the 7****th****. Also I only got ONE review that had constructive criticism. And Xireene submitted that. Thank you, Xireene!**

**SRP: Please give constructive criticism! No flames! And TWBG doesn't own PJO or HoO.**

**Me: *Eyes start misting***

**DianeJasmine: TWBG just logged (kinda hacked, but not really) into my profile. You should all go check it out! NO! THAT WAS TWBG TYPING! IT STILL IS! But you should go check it out! And she used my laptop to post this!  
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><p>Jason sat in the patrician part of the spectator stands waiting for the duel to start. <em>Why did Reyna have to do this? Why?<em> He thought as he listened to Leo annoying Piper, Percy, Hazel, and Frank. Reyna wasn't one to put out her personal wants but Jason knew her, and Jason knew that she _wanted_ to go on this quest. She wouldn't stop at anything to draw blood from Annabeth. He knew that Annabeth was the one meant to go on the quest. Reyna easily made rash decisions if they didn't concern a large group or war. She put people at stake by accident sometimes. Jason knew that wasn't what they needed if only seven were to go on this quest. In the end it could easily end up being Reyna and someone else if she went along.

"Jason? Was there anything between you and Xena earlier on?" Leo asked as the two girls entered the arena and the crowd cheered.

"Xena?"

"Well, isn't she the daughter of a war goddess? She's, like, a war princess!"

"Uh, I guess so. But there wasn't anything between us that I know of… There could have been if Juno hadn't pulled me away."

"Hmm," Leo replied, nodding his head in satisfaction.

"Why–Oh no, that's not a good idea, Leo. No way. She's beat you to a pulp!" Jason warned as it all dawned on him. Reyna was everything Leo saw in a girl: beautiful (Jason had to admit that), fierce, hatred toward him, annoyance toward him, ignorance toward him, and out of his league.

"Aw! Come on! Jus-"

"No! Listen!"

"Okay. Standard rules," Octavian began, smiling his creepy smile. "First to draw blood wins whether it's maiming, a cut, or killing. But please keep the maiming and killing to a minimum. After a soon to be determined amount of minutes, a monster will be unleashed. If the fight is boring, it'll be three minutes. If it's interesting, five. Now, BEGIN!"

Annabeth and Reyna circled each other for a while. They seemed to be almost self-conscious of what they did. Reyna lunged at Annabeth, doing a simple test strike. Annabeth deflected it with a simple move. They seemed to be muttering something to each other as they kept walking, eyeing each other closely. Annabeth tried a stab at Reyna, but she defended herself easily. About another minute passed of them just exchanging simple moves. Three minutes had passed, and the hellhound was let loose.

The giant dog tried to attack both of the girls. "_Di immotrales!_" Annabeth said angrily. Apparently it wasn't enough of a challenge for her standards. She'd probably been hoping for giant scorpions or something.

Annabeth seemed to be doing an awful job compared to what she normally did at Camp Half-Blood. Bellona might be cursing her…or Mars. Within the next minute, Reyna killed the hellhound and was almost gloating. But Reyna never gloated. The daughter of Bellona turned to the daughter of Athena and attacked. Jason saw that Annabeth went on defense mode, blocking and countering Reyna's swipes and stabs. She looked scared weak. The full Roman part of Jason said _Just like a Greek_, but the other ninety percent of him was alarmed.

Just as Reyna was about to slice open a small part of Annabeth's arm, the Greek went all-out. Annabeth fought back hard, and the crowd stopped laughing and began gasping and cheering. Most of the people were cheering for their praetor, though.

Both girls countered each other's strikes. They stabbed, swiped, parried, tried to disarm each other, and attempted to draw blood. Jason realized that not only was Annabeth smart and a great fighter, but she was also an amazing actor. She'd fooled Reyna into believing that she was a weak Greek. But the leader of a camp couldn't be weak. She had to be strong.

Soon enough, two more monsters were let loose; an empousai and a skeleton warrior charged. Annabeth took out the empousai with one stab, but the skeleton warrior ended up just being a distraction to the duel. Neither girl could destroy it, so they tried to concentrate on each other, occasionally having to try and kill it.

Jason heard Leo whisper something to Percy, who whispered something back. Leo looked like he was thinking through what to say, then whispered an answer.

Before the next three minutes passed, Annabeth managed to pin Reyna against the walls of the Coliseum with some difficulty, and waited for a few seconds, muttered something, and then gave her a shallow cut on the arm.

The stands were silent. No one clapped or cheered. Jason guessed that having a Greek defeat a Roman was _very_ abnormal, but Jason was used to it by now. Annabeth had defeated him (grade-wise) in monster fighting class at Camp Half-Blood. Percy started clapping along with Piper. Then Leo, Frank, Hazel, and himself followed suit. Soon the whole crowd was clapping. The only one who wasn't was Octavian. He'd probably hoped that Reyna would win, because then he could claim himself as praetor, but oh well.

Annabeth turned and smiled at Percy, who smiled back. _Well,_ thought Jason, _I guess we have the last member of our quest._

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><p><strong>Now remember, no flaming! Just Constructive Criticism! Yours in demigodishness and all that!<strong>

**Write and read on!**

_-TWBG  
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	4. IV Jason

**Here! Another marvelous update! Thanks for all the constructive criticism in the last chapter. I know I have a few grammar errors and such, but I've been finishing these chapters every Friday at school and then posting them right away to keep my promise. I'll try to send it to them!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO or HoO  
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><p>IV Jason<p>

Jason made his way to the mess hall with Hazel at his side. Percy and Leo were talking together behind them, and Piper and Frank were following. Jason didn't know what had happened to Annabeth and Reyna, but he was hoping they'd get along okay.

"So… It seems like you've been up to quite a bit recently, Hazel."

"Yeah. You, too." They kept going a few more paces in awkward silence. "So I guess we'll be leaving tomorrow?"

"I'm pretty sure we are."

"If we'll be going to Rome and Greece, don't you think we'll need more demigods on the quest? Or at least for the battle?"

"I don't know… We never really talked about it. I guess we'd all come to a consensus that there'd only be seven of us going."

"Well this way Reyna could also go. We'd have more people to fight the giants."

"Hazel, you know Reyna's fatal flaw. Even if we have twenty people it'll still be a problem. Plus, Octavian would try to take over camp if both reyna and I left. If only one of us leaves, he won't."

"I know, but still! We should have more than only seven. Us main seven could do the main part of the quest – closing the doors of death, opening up Olympus – but we could all fight together."

"We also only have nine beds."

"Wonderful," Hazel groaned.

"And that's where the Leo comes in handy"

"What're you on about?" Piper queried.

"Well…I might have tried to fill up some space by putting extra rooms through out the ship. I mean, storage and war supplies can only take up so much space," then Leo started talking about all the fundementals of making a war ship and some complicated mathematical things which only Annabeth showed any sign of understanding.

"So," Frank interrupted, "you're basically saying that we've got enough room on the ship for thirteen more people. Six from your camp and seven from ours?"

"Well, fifteen, but yeah."

"Then all we have to do is figure out who else is coming."

All of those who'd ever been at the Greek camp immediately responded with a chorus of "Clarisse"s. When a look of confusion passed over Frank and Hazel's faces, Percy elaborated.

"She's the toughest demigod at camp. Duahgter of Ares. She won't show Mercy for anyone."

"Except Chris," Piper said.

"And…" as Annabeth said this, a shadow passed over her and Percy's faces.

"Yeah," Percy said quietly and a bit darkly. "Anyways, we know that Clarisse is coming, so we have five more to choose from Camp Half-Blood. We'll need the best fighters."

"Lou would be useful," Piper suggested.

"Four."

"Chris?"

"Yeah, so three more."

"How about Will? And… Conner and Travis," Annabeth concluded. "They're good fighters."

"Okay. Now some from here."

"Bobby, Dakota, Gwen-"

"She's not as part of the the legion anymore," Hazel stated, cutting Jason off. "She's going to college in the city now."

"In that case, we'll need Bobby, Caroline, Jacob, Daniel, Dakota…"

"Katrina and Simon?"

"Yeah, them too."

"O…kay," Annabeth muttered as she finished jotting down the names on a piece of paper she'd gotten from Jupiter knew where. "Godly parents? Respectively, of course."

"Minerva, Mercury, Apollo, Janus, Bacchus, Nemesis, and Ceres," Hazel rattled off. "They're all some of the best fighters I've seen."

"Good. So we'll tell them tonight, get on the boat tomorrow, head back to camp, get the others, then sail off to Greece-"

"Rome first," Frank interjected. "Nico - he's a son of Pluto, Hazel's brother - was captured by one of Gaea's forces when he was looking for the doors of death. We need to get him, and we need to close the doors of death."

"You - he - when - you've met Nico? Di Angelo?" Annabeth sputtered.

"Yeah, they have," Percy sighed. "And the little creature pretended he didn't know me."

"What?"

"I think this can wait for the boat," Hazel broke in. "Meanwhile, we need to eat! The war games are soon!" The septuo (or whatever, Jason thought) turned to the meals sitting in front of them.

Jason turned his head to where Reyna sat and saw her glaring at Leo, who was beaming at her, and sighed. Leo would never get it, would he?

Some fifteen-ish minutes later, Jason found himself in a forest-y area along with the rest of the camp and the visitors. Reyna, instead of being on Skippy, was also on the ground with the rest of the group.

"We will not be playing our regular war games tonight, Romans!"

"Then what will we be playing?" a voice shouted out from the crowd.

"Capture the flag," Jason heard Percy say smiling.

* * *

><p><strong>Mwahaha! CAPTURE THE FLAG! I remember the nights two years ago when we'd play that at my compound... Now we only occasionally play Beckon. *sighs*<br>**


	5. V Percy

**So sorry I didn't update! I would have, but my USB got lost, so I had to retype this whole thing! Luckily I had it written down in some notebooks (notice the 's' in that) and on my iPod. DARN IT! I had so many one-shots on that USB! _And_ I had my Personal Narrative for English on it! And my teacher wants me to fix a few things on it! **

**100th subscriber: Martyparty98, you get a... VIRTUAL HALF-COOKED CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE!**

**To all of the reviews: Thank you so much! Just remember, constructive criticism is healthy for everyone! :D  
><strong>

**:( WHY DID THE DARN THING NEED TO GET LOST?**

**The following applies for all chapters:**

***Coming home from Johnny English Reborn in SpringFling's car*  
>SpringFling: It's 7:00<strong>.  
><strong>Me: No, it's 7:06.<strong>  
><strong>SP: No, it's...<br>*Both stare at the clock for about 48 seconds then both say 7:07*  
>Me: This is perfect for a disclaimer saying that <em>I don't own PJO or HoO.<br>_SP: 7:08! Ha! Powned!  
>Me: *grumbles*<strong>

* * *

><p>V Percy<p>

Percy was exhilarated. He had his memories back, Annabeth was here, and they were going to play capture the flag.

"The objective of this game," Reyna began, "is to find the other team's flag, acquire it, and get it back to your side of the field. The boundary line is clearly marked by a small stream coming from the mountains. Some of you will be on the south side, some on the north. Fifth, third, and half of the first cohort will be on the south side. Fourth, second, and the rest of the first on the north side. Annabeth, Percy, and Jason will take south while Piper, Leo," she said his name close to disgust, "and I will be the north. You have five minutes to plan!" With that, she led her team over to the part of the woods they'd be defending. Percy followed Annabeth in the opposite direction.

It seemed that the cohorts were already planning with the boy named Bobby taking th lead in organizing the strategy. "We'll put defense here, here, one at the flag, and several in a five meter radius around it. Archers, you'll be up in the trees by the mound-"

"Keep the defense here, but spread them about around these areas," Annabeth interrupted, leaning over her Roman half brother's shoulder to look at the map he was holding. "Put two on duty at the flag, and keep the radius at ten meters. Archers stay by the mound, but put a few right there. Offence, you're going to go either this way, or this way to get the flag. Don't go around the east side. They're bound to be expecting us there. If you have to then circle around the north."

"And how would you know all of that?" Bobby asked, clearly annoyed. "You haven't even been here for a day! you haven't ever been in these woods!"

"I take it you're Bobby? Well, only one of my strategies have gone wrong in the last ten years. And then, it was when I was seven and it was my first capture the flag game."

"It's true," Percy said when a look of disbelief crossed his face. "You'd better get used to it. I'll defend the border." No objections arose. Satisfied, Percy said, "Let's get out there, then."

Percy was standing near the border behind a tree, waiting for someone to come when someone tapped his shoulder. He spun around to find his sword swing blocked by a girl holding a knife.

"Annabeth." Percy's mouth stretched into a grin.

"Hi."

O~o~O~o~O~o~O~o~O~o~O~o~O~o~O~o~O~o~O~o~O~o~O~o~O~o~O~o~O~o~O~o~O~o~O~o~O~o~O~o~O~_(this is really hard to do)_~O~o~O~o~O

"I thought you going on offense."

Annabeth shook her head, making her curly ponytail bounce a bit. "Reyna and I agreed it would be Romans versus Romans. No Greeks or Jason. We've got a bet going; I'm saying that Camp Half-Bloods average time will be better than Camp Jupiter's."

"What are you betting?"

"My secret to beating Reyna. She's betting the Harry Potter books that were translated into Ancient Greek." Percy must have looked confused, because Annabeth asked, "You _do_ know what Harry Potter is, right?"

"Yeah, I've watched all the movies. But how did they get translated to _Ancient Greek?_"

"Easy. Someone here who was taking Ancient and Modern Greek in the college decided it would be a good extra credit project, so they translated all seven books."

"Wow. So, I guess we just hang out?"

"No, we still need to defend ourselves." At that moment, the enemy team decided it was time to attack. "But _only _ourselves. Don't wipe them out."

"Fine."

"By the way, Percy, why don't you have your curse of Achilles?"

"The river surrounding the camp washed it away."

"Good. Now I don't have to worry you could be killed with a single strike."

"Yeah."

The game looked more like a battlefield. The Romans were definitely big on the war part of their heritage. Percy and Annabeth immediately went to their familiar fighting positions. Percy relaxed and felt amazingly happy - they'd been fighting like this since they were twelve. Five whole years. Almost five summers, rather. The Romans were so uncoordinated with the Greek fighting style that it wasn't hard to cause havoc and beat them. For the most part, Percy and Annabeth were able to just stand and watch the game play out.

"Just out of curiosity, what's our average time?"

"Thirteen minutes, forty one seconds, and two jiffies."

"Jiffy? As in the mixes?"

"A jiffy's a measurement of time for one hundredth of a second," Annabeth rattled off, not missing a beat as she blocked a strike that came at her from Octavian. Unlike the other Romans who'd just ignored them after a few seconds, Octavian kept pressing on. Unfortunately for him Annabeth was quickly able to disarm him with her knife, sending the imperial gold sword skittering into a clump of bushes. He glared at her for a few seconds, then ran to reacquire his sword and join back in the game.

"What's his deal?"

"He's the stuck up, snobby descendant of Apollo who says he has the sight of an augury. He thinks all us Greeks are scum. I swore my life that we were friendly, but if there's any outbreak at all, he'll hold me to my word."

"Sounds like a nice guy."

"Yeah. And he - his looks - remind me of -"

"Luke." The son of Hermes' name came out heavy and sad from both of them. Annabeth nodded as if agreeing.

The next ten minutes were spent in silence until a fair-haired girl came running across the border carrying a flag in her hands. Percy recognized her as Caroline from the third cohort. Annabeth checked Percy's watch. "Thirteen minutes, fifty-eight seconds. Now I can finally read Harry Potter."


	6. VI Percy

**AH! LATE UPDATE! LATE UPDATE! So sorry! :O**

**My reasons:  
>1. My USB crashed because I didn't eject it out of the mac (I advise you ALL to eject your USBs!)<strong>  
><strong>2. I was hosting people for South East Asian Honor Band from Thursday to 5:30 am today (we had to drop them off at school then)<br>3. I would have updated earlier today if not for the 5k run that SpringFling, IDon'tKnow, and I did. (IDon'tKnow isn't her real username. 5k runs are really fun!)**

**So... Yup. there ya go. The Honor Band concert was great yesterday. :D I LOVED Exhaltation!**

**I don't own PJO or HoO. If I did, Nico would eventually end up with Calypso, and Leo and Reyna would ALWAYS be together. Also, the books wouldn't have become so famous. **

**Just a question: Why do all of you Piper-haters hater Piper? (Besides the fact that she's with Jason [which I LOVE!])**

* * *

><p>VI Percy<p>

Percy didn't stick around to watch Jason ask the others for their accompaniment on the Argo II. Instead he walked with Frank, Hazel, and Annabeth to the fifth cohort. Though Annabeth would be staying with Piper and Reyna in Reyna's house, she was walking with Percy while he was telling her about his time at the Wolf House with Lupa.

"I want you to meet someone," Percy said when he finished his story.

"Okay. Who?"

"Ella." Then he called to Hazel and Frank, "We're going to see Ella. I'll see you back at the cabin."

Percy led Annabeth to the stables. On the way, she asked about Nico. "Hazel introduced him to me when we saw him in Pluto's temple. He seemed surprised for a moment, then he pretended he didn't know me for the rest of the day. He went to close the doors of death from the other side, but Gaea's forces caught him," Percy finished explaining as they stepped into the barn where they found Ella and Tyson sitting together.

"Brother!" Tyson exclaimed. "Annabeth!" He ran up and hugged her.

"Uh... yeah, thanks Tyson." Annabeth's voice was barely audible through Tyson's embrace.

When Tyson let Annabeth go, Percy introduced her to the harpy. "Hi, Ella. This is my girlfriend Annabeth from Camp Half-Blood. She's Tyson's friend and she'll be your friend."

"Friend! Ella likes friends. Annabeth and Percy are friends. Tyson is Ella's friend." She said that last line with a slight blush. "Tyson told Ella about Annabeth. She is a friend. Friends. Ten seasons. 1994 to 2004."

"She's a harpy?"

Ella nodded. "Harpy. Aella. In English, Ella."

"We rescued her from Phineas."

"Phineas is bad. Like cheese. He is mean to Harpies. Mean - recorded in 2010 by Taylor Swift, it became her thirteenth consecutive single to reach top ten on Hot Country Songs."

"What's she doing?" Annabeth asked.

"Reciting things from books. Anyhow, Annabeth's also a daughter of Athena, and she's going to go on the quest with us."

"Athena. Goddess of war, battle strategy, weaving, and wisdom. 'Wisdom's child walks alone, the mark of Athena burns through Rome.' Burned. No more words. No more words for Ella to read. Ella likes reading. Reading. Books. Books are good, not like cheese. Nope, nope. Ella doesn't like cheese. Or weed whackers. Or Phineas."

Percy looked at Annabeth and studied her face. She looked shocked and confused. She seemed to file away what she'd heard into one of her mental filing cabinet. "I guess we should be heading off to bed," Annabeth commented as she looked up at the sky. The stars were brighter than they'd been only a few minutes ago.

Percy was about to agree when Jason, Leo, and Piper saw them and headed over. "Hi, I'm Piper," Piper (obviously) told Ella, crouching down next to her.

"Piper. One who plays a pipe. Piper McLean, a type of plane. Type. Type, type, type. Piper is Ella's friend?"

"Yes, I'm your friend. So are Jason and Leo."

"Ella likes friends. Yep, yep. Friends help Ella. No more Phineas. Nope. Hazel, Frank, Percy, Annabeth, Piper, Jason, Leo, and Tyson are friends. Friends - ten seasons, 1994 to 2004."

"Is she...reciting facts?"

"Yeah. Memorizes every word she reads," Percy told her.

"That's- Wow!"

"Mhm. We should be getting to bed. Tomorrow's a big day." Surprisingly, Leo was the one who'd suggested the idea.

There were a few mumbled "yeah"s. Leo walked off with Jason. Piper glanced at Percy and Annabeth then said she'd be in Reyna's house.

"Tomorrow is a big day."

"Sure is, Wise Girl."

"I bet you can't wait to see camp, Seaweed Brain."

"You're right, I can't. But I can as long as I have you with me." Percy leaned down and kissed Annabeth lightly on the cheek, then they each headed their separate ways.

* * *

><p><strong>I encourage you all to try and do 5k runs! I encourage you all to respond to my question up there! And I encourage you all to give me constructive criticism! (And eject your USBs from any computer.)<strong>

**I think I was going to say something... Oh yeah! P/J PC (Percy/Jason Personality Clash) WILL be happening!**

**-TWBG  
><strong>


	7. VII Annabeth

**I lied by accident! No P/J PC! Oh well... I think it'll come in chapter nine. Some news: I think Alecto is AT MY SCHOOL! :O Scary thought. Wonderful review, people! Wonderful! I even got a bit of constructive criticism, which I prefer to praise. :D Anywho, read!**

* * *

><p>VII Annabeth<p>

That night in Reyna's room Annabeth could feel the temperature drop whenever Reyna and Piper talked. Sure, they were nice enough to each other, but they seemed to be having a silent battle. Annabeth's guess was that Reyna suspected something was happening between Jason and Piper, which there was. Piper probably knew that Reyna suspected.

"Then there was that one time where the Pizza guy got so lost that he actually got to the camp borders. He was delivering some pizza for a large party, so we had enough to feed everyone who was working on the Argo. The Stolls went up to him and took the pizzas then manipulated the mist so that the guy thought that they'd paid him. Everyone who was on break was so jealous that we'd had a pizza party without them. Jason and Leo wanted to kill us all slowly and painfully."

Reyna made a sound that was like laughter without the smile and true happiness to it. Not for the first time, Annabeth wondered what had happened that had caused her to loose so much happiness.

"That reminds me of the time when Trivia visited us and dressed us all in different costumes. Then she demanded we all go trick-or-treating in Oakland. She'd dressed Jason and Bobby up as the Weasley twins. She changed their hair, eyes, and everything. Anyways, Bobby had a girlfriend then, but it was secret until she got the two of them mixed up and hugged Jason."

Piper laughed at that then relayed another one of her stories. It was an ongoing fight about who'd had the best times with Jason. Annabeth tuned all of it out and turned to her own thoughts. Percy had lost his curse of Achilles. Sure, Annabeth didn't have to worry about him getting killed with a single strike in the small of his back, but now she had to worry about him getting killed at any other spot on his body. Also, it was like loosing something that held the two of them together. Percy had entrusted her, and _only_ her to where his weak spot was. It was a secret only she knew, and that secret held no meaning anymore.

It'd been so long since she and Percy had last seen each other before today, and it felt like something (cough, cough, Hera/Juno, cough, couch) had separated them a bit. Nothing could be quite the same as it had anymore. Someone would die soon, and it could just as well be either Percy or her as any of the others.

She tried to sleep, but found that it was impossible. Reyna and Piper were long past asleep by the time Annabeth sank into her dreams.

"Foolish girl. You cannot escape your destiny. You will be trouble him, oh yes." Annabeth searched for the voice, but she was surrounded by a vast expanse of grey. It was as if thick grey fog were surrounding her. Or a blanket, perhaps. No, it was none of those things; grey surrounded her, but it wasn't like a blanket or fog. She could see every part of herself, and she concluded that the voice had come from nowhere, yet everywhere.

"It will be a ways in the future, later in the summer, but yes, you will not be the one he wants watching his back. Because of you, he will be my pawn. If you want to leave, he will still be my pawn. Hera has so many plans for you demigods, but they are all in vain. You and your gods will all perish, leaving only my children to roam the lands and oceans."

"What are you talking about, Gaea?"

"You will find out, daughter of Athena. You will find out when the time comes."

"We're flying off on a giant war ship to stop you and yet you don't care?"

"Of course I don't why would I when your whole little world will dissolve and float away? All of the peace left, everything wild and untamed. _Nature_ is what it will be. Pure nature."

"We _will_ stop you. You know it. We'll find out a way to stop you. Mark my words. We _will_."

"So much bravery. Such a shame to waste it. Such a shame to waste all that knowledge..." Gaea's voice faded out and Annabeth awoke to sunlight filtering in through Reyna's shades. _First one up_, she thought, though another glance around the room told her differently. She was the second one up. Piper was still lightly sleeping. She'd most likely be up in ten or so minutes. Reyna had already gotten up and left.

Annabeth opened up her duffel bag she'd retrieved from the ship last night, got out a fresh pair of clothes, and changed into her normal jeans and a t-shirt (though this one was from Camp Jupiter). She started out the door and was surprised to find Reyna leaning against a wooden railing while watching the sun rise.

"Thanks for the books."

"No problem." They stood in silence for several seconds until Reyna spoke up. "You gonna tell me how you beat me? Or is it still a secret 'cause of the bet?"

"Nah. The secret isn't much of one. It's called ten years at camp and acting."

"You've been at that camp since you were _seven?_"

"Yeah," Annabeth replied nonchalantly. "I've been at Camp Half-Blood longer than anyone else."

"Oh. Jason's been here since he was six. Wasn't claimed for four years." A few more seconds in silence. Then, "You know, when I saw you on Circe's Island, I knew you were different. You seemed like me and Hylla, but... I don't know. _Strange._ You're fighting style was so different from what I thought fighting would be like. When I came here only a few months after that, I thought _I'll finally be able to fight like she did. _It looked almost artistic. Then I learned only the Greeks fought that way, and I began to suspect. I learned to fight like a Roman - rigid like lighting, in groups - but I always wondered about you and Percy. Always wondered about how you fought. I studied everything out there about the Greeks in secret. I read every last demigod account, but I could never find anything that led to you."

"I don't suppose you would have been too pleased about what you found if you did find anything."

"You're right. Octavian would have found out somehow and would have forced me to declare war on you guys. I probably would have done it even without encouragement from him."

"Well that's the past, and we're in the present."

"You of all people would know I can't put it behind me. You still can't put your decision about Luke behind you."

They stood for a while longer until the camp began to stir and Piper joined them on the porch. "Big day," she said. "Best to get some breakfast in."

Once again Annabeth stood overlooking Camp Half-Blood but in the reverse of before. As they began to ascend Percy came over to her and rested his elbows on the edge. Demigods were forming below, pointing, and questioning others.

"Nervous?" Annabeth asked, though she knew the answer. Percy had been gone for a whole eight months! Of course he was going to be nervous.

"Nope."

"Liar."

"Yup, I'm nervous. I haven't seen camp in so long! There's so many newbies, and everyone will be on me, and… We're heading off to another war, and I don't want it to be like the last one. Not only are some of _us_ going to die, but the Romans might, also."

"Don't worry, Percy. Everything will be fine. I actually think we might be able to stay the night here. Or at lease visit your mom and Paul. But they might be coming to camp if we call."

"I think it's best if we go there."

Annabeth didn't have time to agree, because just then the ship hit the water of Long Island Sound. "Here we go."


	8. VIII Annabeth

**Happy Thanksgiving! And happy four-day weekend to those at my school! I must say that it's WONDERFUL not to have to worry about any tests… except for the English one next week. And the science one is in two or three weeks or something.**

**Two days ago, I finished The Death Cure (book 3 of The Maze Runner trilogy). Near the end of it when * died was the first time I've EVER cried over a book. :'( It was so SAD! I was just sitting on the bus, spread out across the back I was avidly reading, then I got to the part where * died, and I started crying a bit. The sixth grader looked back at me, then was just like, **_**look away…**_** IT WAS SO SAD! Then that night I was thinking all about * and WICKED and what * had always said about WICKED, and the last two chapters of TDC, and some tears came out.**

* * *

><p>VIII<p>

Annabeth and Percy were the first off the ship and as soon as they touched the ground, Rachel dashed up and tackled Percy in a hug so fierce that Annabeth could hear his ribs crack. "You're back!" Rachel cried. "Finally!"

"Percy!" Grover bleated while imitating Rachel's actions.

"Hey, Grover! You too, Rachel. Man, it's been long." Then speaking out to the crowd, Percy said, "It's great to see everyone still alive and, um, so many new people. You too, Chiron, Mr. D."

There were many confused looks from the newer kids who'd only heard of Percy. "Perseus Jackson, Hero of Olympus, is back!" Rachel clarified. Cheers and whooping filled Annabeth's ears.

Percy and Jason stepped back up onto the ramp at exactly the same time to quiet the crowd. It worked, but Annabeth noted that they both seemed a bit nerved that the other had done the same thing. "I'd like to introduce the last two of the seven of the Great Prophecy," Percy announced. As if by silent agreement, Jason continued. "They're both from my camp and from the fifth cohort. Hazel, daughter of Pluto, and Frank, son of Mars"

A little more cheering. "Four more from Camp Jupiter will be accompanying us. Bobby, son of Minerva; Jacob, son of Apollo; Caroline, daughter of Mercury; and Katrina, descendant of Invidia. For us Greeks, that's Athena, Apollo, Hermes, and Nemesis," declared Percy.

"We'll also be inviting a few of you to come with us on the quest, but first, we need to call a se–cabin leader meeting in the big house," Jason finished.

Chiron nodded and spoke, his voice ringing out like a bell. "Cabin leaders, to the big house." He then turned and led the senior campers to the meeting.

Annabeth walked forth with Percy, only to find him torn from her in the sea of cheering and questions. She was annoyed by that act, but the emotion quickly vanished after she remembered that he'd been away for a whole seven and a half months. A smile spread across her face. Annabeth was purely happy. Percy was here, they were at Camp Half-Blood, and Percy's memories were back.

"Guys!" Annabeth called over the ruckus. No one seemed to hear her, so she shouted louder. "GUYS! Thanks. I know it's great that Percy's back and all, but there's kind of a meeting in the big house right now that requires the presence of Percy and me."

The crowd grudgingly obeyed her inferred command and left Percy alone. Annabeth headed in the direction of the big house, passing the cabins and volleyball courts, feeling Percy's presence behind her. The walked in silence until someone coming from the forges shouted out to them. "Percy! It's true! You're back!"

"Jake? Wow. It's great to see you out of the body cast," Percy commented, smiling at Jake Mason.

"Yeah, it was _Hades_ in that thing. Couldn't do anything all day. It's great to see you've got your memories back."

"Yeah. I knew I'd seen that masthead somewhere, and now I know why. What happened to the dragon?"

"Leo tamed it, named it Festus, took it on a quest, it got killed, he used its head for the ship." As Jake was talking, Annabeth tried to figure out what was going on. Jake seemed different from two days ago. There was a certain spring in his step, his smile seemed so much more alive…

She stopped mid-stride as everything dawned on her and the world made sense again She gasped. "Lou asked you, didn't she? She asked you out!" Annabeth was no daughter of Aphrodite – or Venus – but she knew that the couple had liked each other for quite a while.

Before the son of Hephaestus could respond, Percy gaped and asked, "Lou? As in _Lou Ellen?_ You two are together?"

"Um, yeah. Since last night." Jakes face burned red.

"I knew it! I just knew it! I mean I – _I – _knew it!" Percy exclaimed, putting extra emphasis on the "I". Seeing as that he was a real Seaweed Brain, she agreed with his use of grammar. If Percy knew it, it was obviously obvious.

"Come on, Percy." Annabeth grabbed him and dragged him to the open door of the big house.

"What about Jake?"

"Not a counselor any more. Leo took my place in December while I was still in the cast. Seeing as that I would still be like that till at least February, I though he might as well take the title."

"Oh. See you, then!" Percy called. Annabeth turned and Percy followed her inside, down the stairs to the basement, and to the ping-pong table surrounded by the cabin leaders.

Travis was under the table with Leo, no doubt rigging a stink bomb of some sort. Connor was trying to find a way to crawl into the air vents along with Pollux. Miranda and Lou Ellen were laughing hysterically at something Will had just said Clarisse and Butch were fighting (with swords) over a sleeping Clovis. Piper was watching with humor as Andrew (a son of Nemesis that looked strangely similar to Ethan) was trying to get Jason to conduct the electricity in the nacho heater to make the nachos burn. Why Andrew wanted that, Annabeth had absolutely no idea.

Despite all of this chaos, as Percy and she walked into the room, complete silence settled like a blanket. Rachel casually came up from behind them and acknowledged them with a nod as she took her seat. Annabeth could tell Percy was uncomfortable. He had his arms folded, probably trying to hide the tattoo given to him at Camp Jupiter.

"Hi, guys. Like I said, good to see you all," Percy said as the six Romans filed in.

"Aw, c'mon, Perce. That's the lamest thing you've said since...ever!" Conner shouted.

Percy cracked a smile. "How about this, then? How's it going, Clarisse?" he asked, throwing his arm around said daughter of Ares dramatically and looking up and off into the distance, gesturing widely at the corner where the wall met the ceiling. "Bight, sunny day, isn't it? I bet you can't wait to go out, riding on your bike, and-"

"Slim it, punk. Just because you've had your memories torn away from you doesn't mean I'll get all mushy and dramatic."

"Missed you, too." Then turning back to Conner, "How was that?" But the son of Hermes couldn't reply. He was on the ground, clutching his stomach and laughing, along with most of the others. Then Percy sighed so dramatically, Annabeth had to roll her eyes. She knew what was coming. "If only Drew were here." Piper's eyes widened in shock. Annabeth could tell exactly what she was thinking: who would wish Drew was to be anywhere near you? Percy sidled over to stand next to Miranda. "Then I'd be able to do... This." he started tangling up her hair with his hand.

"Jackson! Don't you DARE! Eep!" Miranda shrieked. She loved her looks as much as any other Aphrodite girl. But Miranda wasn't a daughter of Aphrodite; her mom was Demeter.

"Can we all calm down, please?" Chiron called out. Annabeth had been too caught up in her laughter to notice that the centaur had arrived. "And Leo, Travis, take off that salsa bomb before it detonates. We don't want to have a roomful of blind people. And _, no one wants burned nachos, so stop trying. Conner, if you'll nicely replace that air vent? Yes, thank you. As you all can see, Percy is back. Would you tell us about your time at the Roman camp? Camp Jupiter?"

Percy nodded, then preceded to tell them about waking up in the wolf house, getting to Camp Jupiter, Frank's quest, and the battle at the camp. When he finished, there was complete silence, but not the stunned kind, Annabeth noted. More like the "Yeah? So...?" kind of silence where everyone knew what the answer was but wanted it to be said aloud anyways.

"So the seven of the quest have been chosen. Frank, Hazel, Annabeth, Piper, Leo, Jason, and I will all go on the quest. But we still need help with the giants. Caroline, Katrina, Bobby, and _ are going to be on the ship with us, along with a Harpy named Ella, and a handful from here. We'll be going to Rome to find the doors of death, rescue Nico, and close the Doors, and then we'll leave to Greece to battle the giants."

"Very well, then. How long will you be staying here, Percy?" asked Chiron.

Percy turned to Annabeth and she mouthed "until tonight". Of course, Percy didn't understand. Mentally doing a face-palm, Annabeth announced, "We'll be leaving tonight after the campfire or after breakfast tomorrow morning. Depends on what Leo says."

Leo immediately responded with, "Tomorrow morning. We should get a bit of good rest before we leave. It'll take at least a week to get to Rome, if not longer."

"Then I believe it's set. I believe you'll all be staying in your respective parents' cabins," Chiron told the Romans. Unless, of course, you'd prefer to stay in the Argo." In response they all mumbled their "yes-s" and "thank you-s". "For now, this meeting is dispersed. You may go train, or relax. Mr D will be back in time for the campfire, just to let you all know. Oh, and Lou? Please no more detaching body parts, please. Amelia only just found her finger."

"Yes, sir."

Chiron left, leaving the group of teenagers sitting together around a ping-pong table. Leo suddenly yelped and ducked under the table. Conner ran out of the room. Travis joined Leo under the table. They were frantically working at something. Annabeth and Rachel started backing away towards the door. Jason and Piper grabbed each other's hands and pressed themselves against the wall outside the door. Everyone else followed, except Clovis. Percy ran back into the room ad tried to grab him, but Leo and Travis beat him to it. They sprinted out of the basement and into the hallway just as the salsa bomb exploded. When Annabeth peeked in, she saw a room with chips sticking out of the walls and salsa covering every square inch of it. Though the table had miraculously stayed clean. It always did, except for that stain where Silena's hot chocolate had spilled a few years ago.

"Chips, anyone? We've got salsa!" Jason smacked Leo on the head. "Ouch! Come on!"

Annabeth called all attention to her and began organizing groups. _At least it's not cheese this time,_ she thought. That had been awful. Mr D had declared that it would be only Percy and herself cleaning it all up. "Andrew, you show Katrina around camp. Hazel, you're with Jason. Frank, you can be with Percy. Bobby, you're coming with me. Jacob and Will, Caroline and Connor. Travis and Leo, you know your job. Miranda, could you supervise them? Clarisse, Butch, Pollux, and Lou – I have to talk with you guys on the porch." Everyone scurried to their duties, and Annabeth led Bobby upstairs.

* * *

><p><strong>YIPEE! What does Annabeth want to talk to those four about? Whad'ya think? It's gonna be important! Did you like the little bit of PJ PC? There WILL be more! I'm also most likely going to mix the POV patterns up, adding some Piper, Leo, Frank, Hazel, maybe Reyna, occasionally.**


	9. IX Reyna

IX Reyna

Reyna was waiting impatiently in her house for the IM (not the computer type) Annabeth would be sending soon. She, Annabeth, Hazel, and Piper had made some last-minute decisions together. They'd done it out of the way of the boys and had planned to put it into action later because Jason, Leo, Percy, and Frank never would have agreed to it.

"Reyna!" a voice called. She turned around, raising her knife as she did so until she realized who was speaking.

"Sorry, Annabeth. I still haven't gotten used to this whole Iris Messaging thing. Are you ready?"

"Almost. But we need to debrief theses guys," Annabeth replied. She gestured to the four people standing behind her, and Bobby standing off at the side. "Clarisse, daughter of Ares, Lou Ellen, daughter of Hecate, Pollux, son of Dionysus, and Butch, son of Iris."

"Hello. I am Reyna, daughter of Bellona and Praetor of the twelfth legion. We have some plans that no one else, except for Piper and Hazel, knows about. We'll be needing your help to put them in action, yes?"

"Yeah, sure," Butch grumbled. "But make it quick. I need to go clean up the stables before Percy sees Blackjack and Blackjack starts complaining."

Who was Blackjack? Reyna wondered. But she didn't have time to dwell on it. "No need to worry, um, Butch. It's going to happen later in the day. In about three hours. What you guys need to do…"

Annabeth

"And this is where you'll be staying tonight. The Athena cabin." Annabeth announced. She gestured to a bunk near the back of the cabin. You get that bed. It's one of the only two free ones. I've been designing an expansion to this so that we can add more bunks, but for now we only have eighteen beds."

"Annabeth?" Malcolm called. "Hey, we've got a new recruit. Her name's Amy, and she's eight. From Ecuador. Nick found her in a school there, told her dad, and brought her here. She got claimed immediately. I've told her the basics, shown her the cabins, but I have to go to AG. Can you take her?"

"Yeah, sure." She crouched down, reducing herself to the younger blonde's height. "Hi, Amy. I'm Annabeth. I'm also a daughter of Athena. Normally I'm the head counselor here during the summer, but I'm going to be gone for a while, so Malcolm will take over for me. He also takes over for me during the school year. This here is Bobby. He's from the Roman demigod camp in California called Camp Jupiter. He'll be staying with us tonight."

Bobby muttered something about putting his bag away and started looking for a suitable place for it.

Annabeth turned and led Amy to where her bed would be for a while now. "Here's your bunk. You're right by me, see?" The girl nodded and tears began to roll down her cheeks. Annabeth sat down on her bed, rumpling some blueprints for a modern library on Olympus in the process. Then she wrapped her arms around the girl, doing exactly what the last head counselor of the Athena cabin, Teresa, had done for her when she'd arrived at the age of seven.

Annabeth sat there, holding the little girl. Then the girl sniffled and looked up at her with those wide, adoring eyes that almost every third-grader had. "I miss my dad and my brother and sister. Will I see them again?"

"If you want to go back home during the school year, then you can. But during the summers you can stay here and train to fight monsters."

"O-Okay."

"You can put you bag in here. Do you want to continue the tour?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, come on."

Jason

As he was showing Hazel around the Greek camp he'd come to know so well, Jason couldn't help but be swarmed with his memories. Sure, they'd come back throughout the last few months, but there'd been a few gaps that had come back during his brief stay at his home.

When they finished the tour, Hazel went off to retrieve Arion from the ship's stables and bring him to the camp's stables, and Jason went to his cabin to think. However, when he sat down he was forced into a memory. The day Reyna had arrived at camp.

"_This is the arena where the legionaries train to fight with swords, daggers, knives, spears, and other similar weapons." Gwendolyn's sweet voice floated across the walkway. Jason knew she'd been assigned to give the tour for the newbies that day, nothing unusual. But as Jason looked over at the two girls she was speaking to, he did notice something odd._

_The older girl was scowling at every boy she saw, but glowed at the sight of any girl. The younger girl was just walking with them, not doing anything except staring ahead and occasionally nodding. She couldn't have been any older than Jason, but she was definitely taller than him by a good inch and a half. She had coal-black hair braided in a plait down her back, and her dark eyes were impossible to read. Jason knew she'd most likely end up being in the first – the best – cohort and possibly a future praetor. Jason was in the unluckiest cohort: the fifth. Plus, he didn't stand a chance at becoming praetor._

_He instantly took a liking to her._

"_Sparks!" Bobby called. "We kind of need you to pay attention. You need to teach these guys the formation."_

_Jason sighed and turned away from the sight of the new girl._

•••

_Two days later he got his first chance to meet the mysterious girl whose name he had found out was Reyna. Just as Jason had predicted, she had joined the first cohort._

"_Reyna! Reyna! Thomas told me to get you. Hylla's waiting for you in his office."_

_Reyna turned around and glowered at what he'd just said. "I don't care what my sister has to say. I know what it is. She's found out about the Amazons and she's going to abandon me. To join _them_," she said with disgust. But she walked with him to certain death anyhow._

"_I'm pretty sure she wants you to come with her. It's not like she'd just leave you."_

"_Well what if I don't want to go with her? What if I'm happy at camp?"_

"_You probably won't be as happy without her around. Plus, you don't fully belong in the legion yet."_

"_Thanks for reminding me."_

"_Listen, Reyna, you're a great fighter, and I'm certain you've got a shot at becoming praetor in a few years. I want you to stay. You seem like a natural leader, but you won't be happy about it all without Hylla around."_

"_How could you say that? You don't even really know me."_

"_Then I hope I can get to know you." They reached the office and Reyna walked towards the doors._

"_I hope so, too." Jason would have thought he'd imagined those words if Reyna hadn't turned around and spoken them directly to his face._

•••

_It was two years later, and both Jason and Reyna were fourteen. And it was the Feast of Fortuna. Praetor elections would happen today for the open post as partner of Thomas, and Reyna had applied. He really wanted her to get it, because then nobody would taunt him about him having choosing her for his second member of the quest. They wouldn't say he wanted her along so that he could try and impress her. They would say he'd wanted a fine warrior at his side. But he also wanted her to win because it would make her happier. She'd been so focused, so…strict, since her sister had left. Maybe after becoming praetor she'd loosen up._

_Then there was the matter of Octavian. He'd blackmailed almost everyone somehow. He'd threatened to reveal Jason's secret about the only thing he remembered about before Camp Jupiter when he was only two: A black-haired girl with eyes like his. He knew there was some connection. That she was the only one he'd ever loved somehow. He felt as if the happy memory would be torn away from him if it were revealed. He felt as if he would never find his sister again if anyone else found out._

_Jason took a deep breath, then dropped his ballot into the box. Vote for the open position of leader of the fifth cohort (to be a partner of Jason): Gwendolyn. Vote for the praetor position…_

_Octavian._

_Jason walked away, tears threatening to be released from his eyes. Reyna saw him and asked what was wrong. "I'm so sorry. It's just…I need to see her again. I need to," e said hoarsely._

"_It's okay. I understand." Reyna was the only one (besides Octavian) who knew about the girl he suspected was his sister. Reyna's voice sounded sincere, but her eyes said differently. She did understand, but she would never forgive him if she lost the position by one vote._

Reyna

Reyna rode Skippy, who was pulling a chariot filled with three people along with another pegasus from Camp Half-Blood, who had Octavian mounted on its back. Next to them rode a second chariot with four people on it, and one person on one of the pegasi, also from Camp Half-Blood. Down below rode a last demigod on Mrs. O'Leary.

"It should be right down below!" She called to the others.

"Seems just like Greeks to have nothing but woods and strawberry fields. That's probably why they don't fight so good." New situations, new people, new places, same old Octavian.

"Octavian, it's hidden by the Mist. You can only see it when you get inside the borders! That's what Annabeth said."

"And you trust a _graecus? _Was is not you, _and_ _Jason_, who put on the brochure, and I do quote, 'never trust a _graecus'_?"

"Yes, but that was _before_ we found out that Greek demigods really existed and that they were friendly."

"I still say-" The sight of the amazing landscape laid out before them cut off Octavian's retort. Everyone's breath was taken away. Even without the Greek camp in sight, the view was amazing.

"We need to land. Now." Scipio followed Reyna's orders, and the other three pegasi came after. All of the demigods gathered together near a pine tree, awaiting four demigods.

"Is – is that the…Golden Fleece?"

"Yeah," a voice said from behind them. "I got a quest for it four years ago. Of course, as Annabeth keeps reminding me, she and Prissy both helped." It was that Ares girl… Clarisse, was it?

"I know. That's where I first saw Percy and Annabeth. They were the ones who freed my sister and I from Circe's island, and they were the cause for many of our hardships."

"Sounds just like them," Clarisse growled. Turning to the others, she introduced Pollux, Butch, Lou Ellen, and herself.

"You don't seem much like Dakota," Dominick, (son of Mars), commented about Pollux when Clarisse was done. "He's a son of Bacchus. He's got a drinking problem – an addiction to kool-aid."

"Maybe that just proves us Greeks are able to contain ourselves better in certain aspects. It might also help that right now my dad's not allowed anywhere near wine. He's bound to serve camp for another fifty years."

"Huh."

"Well, if I-"

"Octavian," Reyna warned.

"-might be able to give my opinion,-"

"Octavian!"

"-I would say that you're-"

"OCTAVIAN!"

"What?"

"Shut up," she said simply. And those two words were the most satisfying words she'd ever said to someone. It was marvelous to feel the freedom.

"You must be Reyna." Reyna whirled around to face a girl maybe a year older than herself with striking red hair and green eyes. "I'm Rachel." Reyna eyed her, silently asking for elaboration. "Rachel Elizabeth Dare. I'm a clear sighted mortal and the Oracle of Delphi since August eighteenth." She turned to Octavian. "You must be Octavian. You're the one who gives the prophecies at Camp Jupiter, huh? Not an oracle either. Oh well. Come on in."

**Yay! The first chapter that got sent to my editor, Jane Doe! Thank you so much, Jane. ;D Your suggestions were excellent. I've already emailed this to you, and I know you most likely won't be reading this story and this author's note, but who cares?**

**Thanks for the reviews, and to answer them all: Thanks for reviewing! If you have any ideas for this, please give them to me! I want some of what my fans like in here! :) Remember, CC is always lovely!**

**-TWBG**


	10. X RachelReyna

**My reasons for not updating... 1) I had a huge writer's block. 2) The parts of this story were scattered in a ton of places: my iPod, my email, a document on the computer, and numerous notebooks. 3)...**

**You guys are gonna kill me for being this lucky...**

**Last week I was in Greece. I'm not kidding! We stayed at the AVA hotel and had an awesome view of the Acropolis and of Olympian Zeus's Temple. The Acropolis was amazing! While we were there, my dad kept cracking some jokes that just made you want to do a face-palm. Like, "Look at that ancient crane over there. And those trash cans! How old are they?"**

**Anywho, thank you, BurningStorm, for being an awesome CCer! And the hundredth review prize goes to...PJO-HoOLuver! Thanks for moving me on!**

**Off topic again, but for Christmas, I got the DH pt. 2 soundtrack and the GoF soundtrack (Harry Potter), other songs, and the book _Witch & Wizard: The Fire._ What about you guys?**

* * *

><p>X RachelReyna

-Rachel-

"Reyna, let me ask you again why, _exactly_, we should trust these _graecuses?_" Octavian asked, which to Rachel seemed obviously like a last resort.

"Because we trust Percy and Jason as praetors."

"But Percy himself is a _graecus_, and he's not praetor anymore. Plus, they have to rely on a mortal to present them with prophecies!"

Rachel, who'd been listening in on this conversation while leading them towards camp boundaries, instantly spun around, infuriated. "You don't even know what I've done! I navigated the labyrinth and nailed Kronos in the eye with a blue plastic hairbrush. What have you done? Murder stuffed animals? You also bribe people into supporting you. I wouldn't be talking if I were you. So shut the Styx up."

"You...disgrace! We should have attacked when they first stepped off the ship!"

Clarisse took obvious offense to this. She glared even more harshly at Octavian, who flinched. "I swear, if you dare insult us again-"

"What are YOU guys doing here?" a voice interrupted. Percy was coming up the hill towards them.

"We will explain it soon enough," Rachel assured him. "Annabeth, Hazel, and Piper already know about this."

"Uh, yeah, okay. Come on, I guess."

Reyna started forward, but to her surprise an invisible barrier stopped her from entering. Looking around, she found that he other Romans had the same problem.

"Wha-? Oh. Percy, you'll need to let them in," Rachel told him.

"If they can't get in because they're Roman, then how were Jason and the others able to get in?"

"Jason was on a Greek chariot and once he was in our camp, he was able to come and go as he pleased. The rest were on a Greek ship, our turf."

"Hm. In that case, I, Perseus Jackson," he, like usual, flinched at his full name, "allow Praetor Reyna and her companions from Camp Jupiter to enter Camp Half-Blood. Come on, this way."

**(This paragraph was a slight POV slip-up. Reyna POV.) **Reyna marveled at everything around her as they were heading to a large four-story house with a wraparound porch. There were volleyball courts with some fourteen- to eighteen-year-olds playing against fauns. Fauns! A collection of twenty little bizarre cabins were set around an area with greenery and statues in the shape of a Greek Omega. A sparring arena was set off to the side, as well as a Greek amphitheater. There was also a canoeing lake, woods, an archery range, forges, and a beach.

**(Rachel again.) **Upon reaching the big house, Rachel turned around and began sorting everyone into groups, save Reyna and Percy. Then she instructed her companions to show them around camp and bring them back in fifteen minutes. She also asked Percy to bring the cabin leaders, Hazel, Frank, and Jason in the same amount of time.

It was just Reyna and her now. "Let's go see how Travis and Leo are doing, yes?"

"Sure," Reyna replied. She was probably suspicious of the smirk Rachel was wearing.

Everything was oddly quiet when they reached the door to the basement. Knowing exactly what was coming, and expecting that Reyna would follow her lead, Rachel opened the door and ducked into a squat immediately. Reyna, unsuspecting, earned herself a salsa balloon in the face.

Rachel stood up and peered into the room. Leo and Travis, in a silent fit of hysterics, were next to a bucket filled with salsa balloons in the now-clean basement. Turning around, she saw Reyna standing VERY still. The daughter of Bellona raised a hand and slowly, deliberately, wiped the dip off one eye, then the other. Her lids snapped open and her eyes searched the room behind Rachel. When her stony gaze rested on the duo, she didn't roll her eyes like most people did. Instead, she joined Rachel in the doorway and made eye contact with both of them. Mainly Leo, though.

"Valdez," she said, her voice as icy as her calm and steady stare.

The boys stopped laughing immediately. "Xena! How wonderful of you to join us! If we'd known it was you, we would have... Let's just say it was meant for Rachel."

"Great!" Rachel jumped in before the exchange could become a full-fledged fight. "Leo, Travis, if you're done you can go back to your regular activities, but meet at the theatre in fifteen minutes." The two boys shuffled past the two girls, mischievous smiles seemingly super-glued onto their faces.

-Reyna-

"Well?" Rachel asked, turning to her.

"Well what? Reyna inquired, trying as best she could not to seem undignified by the events which had just occurred.

"Don't you want to get cleaned up? And get a tour of camp if we can squeeze it in?"

"Of-Of course." Reyna was taken aback. In the legion, you did stuff like that on your own time. Not as standard protocol. In the legion, if you got a face full of salsa, you would just wipe away as much as you could then try to get through the day without too much humility, then rush back to your barrack and hope you were the first one there so you could get enough bathroom time to wash up. Unless you were praetor. Then you could just go to your house and cleanse yourself any time you liked.

Rachel led the way ip tow flights of stairs and gestured to the second floor bathroom. "I'lll be right back. I just remembered that I have to ask Chiron something." Then she left Reyna to was up.

It didn't take too long. When in Rome, you have more to do than pore over your looks, so you learn to do personal needs with quickened efficiency. After a minute or two of standing around, Reyna began to get restless. Not even passing satisfied her. Reyna registered her surroundings then, and spotted an open door across the hallway. _You shouldn't go snooping around,_ Reyna reprimanded herself. As she took the two steps required to cross the wood floor she attempted to hold herself back, not wanting to invade someone's privacy, to no avail. Reyna glanced at the interior of the room, which happened to be an office.

The wall at the opposite end of the office was adorned with t-shirts, all with "Party Ponies" and a year printed on them. Some had that never-worn-before look while others were ripped into shreds, looking more like unusually colored, grated cheese than an article of clothing. A desk strewn with papers, a computer, printer, and phone dominated the right side of the room. But the left wall with the window and the wall containing the doorway there were numerous pictures of what seemed to be ex-campers. Or, she _thought_ they were ex-campers until she saw the most recent photograph taped to the wall – a black haired boy with an arm around a blond girl with curly hair and grey eyes. _Percy and Annabeth._ There was a cluster of photos surrounding them, also. Goofy pictures for each cabin, a blond boy who looked to be around sixteen, a faun – no, satyr – wearing a Rasta cap standing next to a nymph, and a girl – roughly sixteen – with uneven black hair and electric blue eyes which were extremely familiar to Reyna.

"That's Thalia. I've known her for about ten years and she turned out to be Jason's sister," said a voice from behind her. It was the same f-satyr as the one in the photograph just without the cap on. "Sorry, I'm Grover. You must be Reyna. Great to meet you."

"Jason's s-_sister?_ He'd always though he had a sister, but…"_ I never thought he could have one._ The words died in her mouth. Instead of showing weakness, she asked, "What's her story? How come she came here instead of Camp Jupiter like Jason did?"

"Well, when Zeus came to her mom the first time he was, well – Zeus. Then when Zeus came again he was in Jupiter form. So Thalia was a Greek demigod and Jason was Roman. When their mom took them on a picnic to Sonoma, Thalia left Jason with her for a moment, and when she came back, he was gone. Nowhere to be found. So she ran away, met Luke," Grover gestured to the blond boy, "son of Hermes, who was twelve then. They'd both been on the run for a while when they met Annabeth, who was seven in Virginia and had also run away from home. They went around together, fighting monsters. Then I got the assignment to bring Thalia – and _only_ Thalia – back to camp, no matter what. But I took Annabeth and Luke along as well. We got slowed down on the way to camp, and when we got to the top of that hill," he pointed out the window at the hill with the pine tree, "a bunch of monsters caught up with us. Thalia told me to get Luke and Annabeth into camp while she fought off the monsters. But the monsters started to kill her. When she was about to die, Zeus took pity on her and turned her into that pine tree."

"So Jason's related to a tree?"

"_Was._ Four years ago we acquired the Golden Fleece when the tree was poisoned. If Thalia's tree had died, then so would the barriers. The night after we got it, Annabeth was guarding it, and it worked a bit too well and brought Thalia back to life. Half a year later from that, when she should have been turning twenty or something, but was turning sixteen for some reason related to being a tree, she passed the Great Prophecy onto Percy by becoming a hunter of Artemis – immortal."

"Now _there's_ a confusing story," Reyna muttered, hiding her shock. Jason had one messed up family story.

"Sure is." He glanced at a clock over the doorway Reyna hadn't noticed before. "Come on. You're going to be late for your meeting.


	11. XI Piper

**Happy New Years! I'm posting this at exactly midnight in Indonesia! :D I know that parts of this chapter seem filler-y, but oh well. I needed to update exactly on 2012. I'll begin moving the pace along and getting some action in soon!**

**Oh yeah, this chappie contains slight P/J PC if you squint.  
><strong>

**-TWBG**

* * *

><p>Piper didn't like Reyna. Usually, Piper could get along with just about everyone, and most people found her quite likable. But Reyna was just so stubborn about disliking her.<p>

As Piper, Jason, and Percy were walking to the amphitheatre Reyna and Grover caught up with them. Grover immediately clopped off and embraced Percy in a friendly hug the started bombarding him with questions; presumably about his quest. Reyna had two dogs trailing after her that looked like they were made out of pure silver and gold.

"Aurum!" Jason called upon seeing them. The gold dog, which had been whimpering and looking up at Reyna pleadingly, bounded forward and proceeded to lick Jason with a hard, metallic tongue. Jason laughed and reached down to pet the dog. The other dog began to whimper as well and Jason fixed it with a look. "Have you stopped being mean to Octavian?" The dog's tail went between its hind legs as if having been scolded. "No? Good boy. Come here, Argentum." The dog perked up and also began to attack him with affection.

"_Aurum, Argentum,__quod__Piper__. __Donec__a__elit.__No__oppugnat__. __Umquam__."*_

Piper glanced up from the dogs to look at Reyna. She was scowling like whatever Jason had said didn't please her.

"Piper, this is my dog Aurum, and Reyna's dog Argentum. We, um, _acquired_ them while on a quest to slay the Trojan sea monster."

"You stole them," Piper clarified.

"No! We simply let them out of their cages at a monster's lair and used them to defeat it then decided to borrow them for an undecided amount of time with no intention of bringing them back."

"Like I said. You stole them."

"No!"

"That was stealing, Jason. Not with bad intensions, but still stealing."

"Fine."

Reyna made the slightest sound of surprise from behind them. But, Piper saw, her face was set like stone. _If she were a fruit_, Piper thought, _she would be a lemon. Bitter, but sweet with the right ingredients. Maybe a watermelon. Hard on the outside, but soft innards once you got through. A rambutan? Durian? They're both spiky._

They'd arrived at the amphitheatre. Percy and Annabeth were sitting with Frank, Hazel, and some of the Greeks. Some of the Greeks and Romans were mingling while others sat in their usual groups. Piper joined the group who were mingling and found a Roman daughter of Nemesis named Alta who was quite nice. She was apparently one of the best foot racers in Camp Jupiter due to her long legs, which is what her name meant: long legged.

When the last few stragglers arrived, Rachel stepped down to the performance area. "Hello, hello. I'll need everyone's attention now. Yeah, thanks. Okay, so here's the deal. Originally the plan was that we would have only the seven of the prophecy on the ship to go to Rome and Greece. Then there's all of this technicality stuff that you all probably don't want to hear, and now we have eighteen demigods from Camp Jupiter, seventeen demigods from here, and me. We have gathered the best and most experienced campers here who were willing to come. Some of you have met each other, but we would appreciate it if you could introduce yourself with your name, age, and godly parent, years you've been at camp, and your title (if any). I'll start.

"My name is Rachel Elizabeth Dare. I'm almost seventeen, and I'm the host for the Oracle of Delphi – no godly parent, and I've been the Oracle since about three hours after the war ended last year. So about a year."

Clarisse came down just as Rachel left and said gruffly, "Clarisse, seventeen, Ares, six years, head of the Ares cabin."

After that came Will and Jake who stated that they were both nineteen and had been at camp for six and a half years, having arrived together. Then Pollux, who was eighteen, and had come when he was eleven. Butch and Chris were both seventeen, while Katie and Lou Ellen were sixteen. Lacy was fifteen years old along with Pallas (son of Hebe, five and a half years) and Danae (daughter of Nemesis, four years). Of course, Connor and Travis _had _to enter together grandly.

"Hello, everyone. I am Travis. I am seventeen, and my little brother Connor is sixteen. We have been at camp for… seven-ish years? Seven and a half? Well, something like that. We're the co-leaders of the Hermes cabin, and we are the master pranksters of camp."

Those from the Roman camp went like this:

Reyna, sixteen, Bellona, four, praetor of the twelfth legion.

Octavian, eighteen, Apollo, seven, Augur of the twelfth legion, centurion of the first cohort, senator of New Rome.

Bobby, eighteen, Minerva, six.

Caroline, sixteen, Mercury, five.

Katrina, sixteen, Invidia, six, centurion of the third cohort, senator of New Rome.

Paula, seventeen, Juventas, four.

Maria, fifteen, Maia, three.

Jonathan, nineteen, Trivia, nine, centurion of the second cohort, senator of New Rome.

Alta, fifteen, Victoria, two, centurion of the fourth cohort, senator of New Rome.

Jacob, eighteen, Apollo, seven, _aquilifer _of the twelfth legion.

Simon, sixteen, Ceres, three.

Fortuo, seventeen, Fortuna, four.

Michael, fifteen, Somnus, one.

Dominick, seventeen, Mars, five, centurion of the second cohort, senator of New Rome.

Rufus, sixteen, Vulcan, eight.

Next, Piper stood up, feeling slightly self-conscious. "So I guess I've told you who I am. I'm just about sixteen, and I've been at camp for about six months. I'm the head of the Aphrodite cabin and a charmspeaker."

"You all _must_ know me. I've already said everything at Camp Jupiter. But, I should also tell you that I'm sixteen, been here as long as Piper has, and I'm head of the Hephaestus cabin and the amazing…flame-boy!" At the last words, Leo flared up in a bright, blazing flame. The Romans shouted in surprise. Frank and Hazel flinched away from the stage-ish area. Percy looked mildly surprised, as did Reyna. Piper, Jason, Annabeth, and the rest of the Greeks just rolled their eyes. _When will he ever _not _be a show off?_ Piper wondered silently.

Frank got up shakily, still recovering from Leo's whole flame-on thing. "I'm Frank Zhang, son of Mars. I'm sixteen, and I've been at camp for roughly seven weeks including my quest. Uh, I'm also a centurion of the fifth legion, and a descendant of Periclymenus as well as a shape-shifter." A few awed gasps were let loose from the crowd as Frank ambled back to his spot between Piper and Hazel.

"That's cool, by the way. About the shape-shifting, I mean," Piper told him sincerely.

"Oh, uh, thanks," Frank replied in a mumble.

Hazel then took her place in front of the audience. "I'm Hazel Levesque, daughter of Pluto," Piper heard a few murmurs of surprise from the Greeks. "I've been at Camp Jupiter since last September. And I am the owner of Arion."

Annabeth then came up. "You all know my name and mother. I'm now just seventeen, and I've been at camp for ten years. I'm counselor of the Athena cabin and official architect of Olympus," she announced. Piper knew that was her favorite title. She always wore it with dignity. Whispers of respect flew through the amphitheatre.

"Well, you all know who I am. I'm sixteen, been at Camp Jupiter for twelve years, Camp Half-Blood since December. Hero of Olympus, defeater of Krios and the Trojan Sea Monster, and praetor of the twelfth legion." Those who knew Jason (all but two or three) nodded.

Then Percy stood up. Annabeth had forbidden any mention of Percy's adventures until he got back, presumably to cause less heartache for her. All that Piper knew about him was that he'd fought in the Titan war, defending Olympus and Manhattan, that he was Annabeth's boyfriend, that he had a pet hellhound, was best friends with Grover, went on several quests, and that he usually lives in the city with his mom and stepfather.

"I'm Percy Jackson, as you all know. Son of Poseidon, not Neptune," he directed the latter part at the Romans. "I've been at Camp Half-Blood since I was twelve, and I'm close to seventeen now. So almost five years. I'm councilor of the Poseidon cabin; slayer of the Minotaur, Medusa, the Nemean Lion, Hyperion, Kronos, and Polybotes; ex-bearer of the curse of Achilles; and Hero of Olympus." He headed back to his position next to Annabeth.

Piper was stunned. Who knew he'd done all that? That was…a lot, to say the least. Even Reyna's eyes were widened in the slightest of shock. Other people's mouths were completely agape. That is, except for Jason, who was looking at him with newfound respect; Leo, who was letting his gaze and attention wander; Annabeth, who was just waiting for the spell to pass over; and the older campers, who'd of course known this all for quite a while.

Piper's last thought before the dinner call sounded was, _Wow._


	12. XII Leo

**Okay, so here's just a...chapter. If you don't agree with the rooms for some reason, then too bad. I have everything about the Argo II on an Excell document. Scipio, Blackjack, Porkpie, and Guido are in the stables of the boat. Ella didn't like being cooped up inside, so she forced me to put her in the stables as well. Blackjack is under strict orders to guard Ella from Octavian and his followers. Even though it isn't included in the chapter, (well, neither are Ella, Blackjack, and the other pegasi) don't ask me how Leo managed to fit a life-size replica of the CHB rock wall on the ship, but he did.  
><strong>

VII Leo

Leo yawned as he woke up, wondering where the Hades he was. _Oh, Right._ He was in cabin nine in his sweet new(ish) luxury bed. He sat up and bustled about, hurrying to get ready and prepare the ship for takeoff.

When Leo was set and ready to go, he ascended to the ground level floor only to find a scowling Piper waiting for him, killing his optimistic attitude. _No, killing isn't the right word,_ he thought. _That scowl is more like stabbing-in-the-back-and-puncturing-the-spine-as-well-as-piercing-the-lungs-and-heart-then-twisting-the-blade-in-deeper, cold-blooded murder._ "We've already moved the bunks to the ship, Leo."

"Wha –oh. What time is it?" he asked. It couldn't be _that_ late.

"Ten in the morning," Piper replied without blinking. _Darn, she's telling the truth._

"Aw, come on!"

"It's only your fault you were playing video games until twelve!"

"Well-wait a minute. How did you know that?" The Hephaestus cabin had been suspecting for a while that the Hermes and Apollo cabin had set up cameras in the place somehow and were using what they gathered as blackmail.

"Uh, forget I said anything, okay?"

"Yeah, sure. Whatever. The boat should be ready to leave in about an hour if I get out there right now..."

"It's already ready to leave."

"Seriously? How?"

"Percy's how. Now let's get going!" she ushered him out of the cabin, then muttered something about Jake being at the ship and how he should have woken Leo up.

"Breakfast?" Leo asked hopefully. Maybe it wasn't too late.

"You missed it."

"Aw, come on!" he cried out again. Why did life have to be so unfair?

"You get on the boat. I have to get the Stolls."

"What?" Leo exclaimed in disbelief. "They got to sleep in longer than I did?"

Piper smirked. "Chop, chop, Leo."

Grumbling, Leo made his way to the ship, where everyone was gathered on the deck, waiting for room assignments that were to come from Reyna, Annabeth, and Hazel once the rooms were finished. Leo sighed, and then made his way to the captain's quarters where he found Jason and Percy sitting in two of the chairs, laughing about something.

"An–and he's so–" Jason broke off in another fit of laughter.

"At the m-meetings, he's g-got one w-with him like a weap-weapon," Percy said weakly, tears streaming out of his eyes. The two laughed even harder, not necessarily about what Percy had just said, but for some other insane reason. Eventually they slid of their chairs and onto the floor in a fit of hysterics. Leo, not enjoying the fact that he was left out of the humor, cleared his throat.

"S-sorry, Leo," Jason apologized while attempting to keep a straight face. Key word there:_ attempting._

"Yeah, yeah. Room assignments are almost ready. We've gotta be on deck when the girls are announcing them."

"Ok-kay. Then let's g-go."

"Yeah," Leo normally didn't get weirded out, but now he was.

The girls came around to the crowd wheeling up two electronic boards, one smaller than the other, that they'd gotten from…

"Where exactly did they get that from?" Jason asked the other three boys of the seven.

Leo shrugged along with Frank. "Zeus knows where."

Thunder rumbled through the sky, causing Percy to comment, "Even Zeus doesn't know. Girls do work in mysterious ways. You know when they're, like, right there, then suddenly you turn around and they're gone? I'm pretty sure they somehow vanish to some mysterious planet that only girls can get to whenever that happens."

"I know what you mean," Leo, Frank, and Jason all replied at the same time.

"Okay, everyone! This board here," Annabeth set her hand on the larger board, "has the rooms on it. This one," she pointed to the smaller one, "has a directory, ordered deck downwards. First we'll read off the room assignments, then if you don't remember or whatever, you can come here and check."

"Room one:" Hazel called, "Reyna, Annabeth, Piper, Alta, Rachel, and me. Room two: Percy, Frank, Leo, Jason, Chris, and Bobby. Room three: Maria, Katie, Caroline, Clarisse, Katrina, and Lou Ellen."

Reyna then continued, "Pallas, Rufus, Pollux, Dominick, Butch, and Simon. You guys are in room four. Room five contains Fortuo, Danae, Paula, and Lacy. Six has Michael, Octavian, Conner, Travis, and Tyson. Lastly, in room seven we have Jacob, Jonathan, Jake, Will."

"Great. I think Leo has some announcements to make now," Annabeth stated, eyeing Leo purposefully.

"Uh, yeah. The ship will be taking off in five minutes. We'll meet for lunch inside today at twelve. We'll go over some _rules_," Leo glared at the Stolls who pretended to look all innocent. "I don't want anyone messing up this ship. Now, _ponerse en marcha, la gente_." Everyone looked at him, confused. Especially Lacy and Piper. Piper had told him that French and Spanish were quite similar, but translations were all weird when you were talking in one language and listening to it in another. _Of course. I'm the only one who knows Spanish._ "Get going, people."

For the third time, Leo guided the ship up off of camp grounds and into the sky with Jason standing next to him.

"So, what's the plan?" Jason asked. "About the Argo, I mean."

"What plan? All I know is that while we're in the air, you're my second in command. When we're in water, it's Percy."

"Well, it'd be nicer if we had a more thought-out plan, but I guess that's fine..."

Under his breath, Leo purposefully muttered, "Once a Roman, always a Roman," just loud enough so that Jason could hear.

"I heard that!"

Leo smirked. "Fine. We'll be in the air a little while longer, until we're sure the mortals can't see us landing. How about that? Then we'll be at sea until we're almost in range of mortals seeing us."

"Now that's more of a plan." Jason looked out to the horizon, and Leo did the same, seeing the slowly receding camp. "You know, Hazel told me that what you said in Spanish earlier meant 'Ponersa walked into the gents' in French.

"Yeah, Piper's told me they're pretty similar."

"Are we far enough out yet?"

"I guess so. Hey, Percy!" Leo yelled. "We need you up here!" Percy excused himself from the Stolls and made his way over.

"Hey, Valdez. What's up?" Leo had to say, he liked Percy. He was just awesome.

"You're second in command now."

"What? But what about..." Percy glanced at Jason.

"I'm only second when we're in the air. Leo's gonna be bringing the ship down now, so it'll be your domain."

"Uh, okay then. The girls have called a meeting of us, Frank, Hazel, Annabeth, and Reyna."

"Why Reyna?" Leo asked, confused."

"Because she's a leader of Camp Jupiter. Plus, her story intertwines with Annabeth's and mine."

"I can't go, though," Leo said. It was quite obvious why. It takes a lot of work to man a ship, and he didn't want to leave it in just anyone's care.

"I'll man it."

"You sure?" Leo felt like he was taking advantage of Percy somehow.

"Yeah!"

"Alrighty, then." Leo and Jason began to walk away, and Percy followed. "Aren't you operating the ship?" Leo questioned.

Percy smiled darkly. "It's called mind control, my little Latino friend." The boat fell downwards a bit, and continued smoothly towards the ocean below.

"What? Poseidon kids can do mind control? That is _so_ unfair!" Leo exclaimed.

Jason sighed and did an exasperated (and exaggerated, Leo noted) face-palm. "Leo, boats are part of his element."

"Ah, right."

* * *

><p><strong>Oh, Leo. You are so naïve.<strong>

**CAN YOU BELIEVE JAMES PATTERSON MOVED THE RELEASE DATE OF NEVERMORE TO AUGUST?**

**I've spent all day making this epic poster with all the PJO and HoO books, all PJO artwork by John Rocco (characters, TLT events, gods+goddesses, temple of Zeus, CHB, CHB cabins) and a bunch of the couples, including Hanniby (Hannibal/Mrs. O'Leary), Tylla, Gleelie (Gleeson Hedge/Mellie), Ripkees (Riptide/Yankees cap), and Blacio (Blackjack+Scipio/Skippy).**

**Love the reviews! Keep 'em coming! Learn more about The Demigod Diaries that's coming out in August!  
><strong>


	13. XIII Leo

**Man! I can't believe I'm already on chapter 13 and writing chapter 14! I can't even believe I had this chapter finished a week ago! O_O Wow. That's a personal record, people! Have you watched the interview with Rick Riordan? It's awesome! The new info on _Demigod Diaries_ is just plain AWESOME, and the cover for _The Serpent's Shadow_ is quite cool.**

**Have you heard Selena Gomez's album, _When the Sun Goes Down_? It's awesome!**

**Now, enough babbling. Thank you to my wonderful editor, Jane Doe.**

**Disclaimer (starring 67 [me] and 20 [one of my friends]):**

**67 and 20 are sitting on the bus on the way home and listening to songs on 20's iPod.**

**20: *looking through songs* What's this song? It's called...I Eat Dinner.**

**67: Play it! Let's see what it's like.**

**20: *selects song***

**IED (the song):  
><strong>

**I eat dinner**  
><strong>At the kitchen table<strong>  
><strong>By the light<br>That switches on**

**I eat leftovers  
>With mashed potatoes<br>No more candlelight  
>No more romance<br>No more smalltalk  
>When the hunger's gone<strong>

**I eat dinner  
>At the kitchen table<strong>  
><strong>And I wash it down with pie<strong>

**I eat leftovers  
>With mashed potatoes<strong>  
><strong>No more candlelight<strong>  
><strong>No more romance<strong>  
><strong>No more smalltalk<strong>  
><strong>When the hunger stops<strong>  
><strong>When the hunger stops<strong>

**20 and 67 were laughing the whole song. The song is real. The event is real. We began singing along with it, and the other three people on the bus began to stare at us. We now have an obsession with the song. I do not own PJO/HoO, and I have to live with it, just like I have to live with the fact that this song was not meant to be humorous, but was meant to be a sad romance song.**

* * *

><p>Leo bounced his leg under the table in the meeting room. He was unconsciously fiddling with wires, bolts, and screws, his hands doing whatever they wanted.<p>

"What did you call us here for, Piper?" Leo whined frivolously.

"Us girls figured that if we're all going to fight side by side, we'd better know each other's stories. I'll start.

"My dad raised me alone. As I got to middle school I guess I just started wanting his attention because he rarely had time for me. I began asking people for things and they gave them to me. Then the police came after me. I got kicked out of four schools in four years. Then I got to the Wilderness School, where I met Leo and Jason. I don't have ADD or dyslexia like most demigods, but I'm a charmspeaker, and my main weapon is Katoptris."

"Awesome," Leo commented unnecessarily. Wanting to get it over with, Leo rushed his tale. "Tía Callida, Hera, was my babysitter when I was younger." Percy's eyes widened in shock at what he'd just said. "She did some pretty nasty things. Then I accidentally killed my mom when I was trying to _save_ her from Gaea when I was seven. I ran away from all of the foster homes the court put me in, so I wound up at the Wilderness School. I have control over fire and I'm good with tools and all that stuff. I use just about any tool as a weapon. I have ADHD but no dyslexia. Your turn, Animal Boy." Everyone looked slightly baffled for a moment before realizing who 'Animal Boy' was.

"Oh–uh, I was raised by my mom and grandmother. When I was a toddler, Juno came and told them my life relied on one of the sticks in the fireplace If it burns out I'm dead–literally. Four months ago my mom died in the war. I was taken to the wolf house and found my way to Camp Jupiter. I have ADD but not dyslexia, I can of course transform into animals, and I'm best with a bow and arrow."

Hazel, who was next to Frank, took his ending as her entrance. "I grew up with my mom in New Orleans. She sold my cursed gems to people, and then Gaea made us move to Alaska. I didn't even get to say goodbye to Sammy…" Leo glanced up when he heard the familiar name and her looking at him.

"Funny," Leo said. "My grandfather's name was Sammy."

"H–his name was Sammy Valdez?" Hazel queried urgently.

"Uh, yeah. That's my grandpa. Why?" Leo inquired. Why would Hazel be curious?

"Anyhow," Hazel continued as if he hadn't spoken, looking slightly relieved, "we moved to Alaska and Gaea forced me to raise the giant Alcyoneus. On the final day, I refused. I blew up the place in a sense, but it didn't work. He still rose. I–my mom and I–we…" Tears were beginning to track down her face. Frank reached out and held her hand, surprisingly making Leo feel the slightest bit jealous. She turned to Reyna and spoke quietly. "Percy and Frank know this. Jason, I think you were guessing, but…I was there, the last time it was tried." Jason nodded knowingly, spurring Leo's curiosity. Perplexity flashed across Reyna's face, then disappeared in the light of dawning truth. **(I've always wanted to use that phrase!)**

"You–oh…"

Hazel nodded. "My mom and I died."

Everything fell into place in Leo's mind, like puzzle pieces falling together. "You dated my grandpa?" Leo exclaimed.

"Only for a day, but yeah. I was born in 1928 and I died in 1942. Now, back to what I was saying. I would have been placed in Elysium, but I partially took my mom's punishment, and we both went to the fields of Asphodel. Roughly seventy years later, Nico showed up and said that the doors of death had been opened. He'd wanted to get his sister out, but that she'd already gone for rebirth. He took me out instead and brought me to Camp Jupiter about a month after the war had ended. In battle I prefer to have Arion, and I use my cavalry sword. When I get agitated, or by my own will, cursed gems pop up out of the ground, so I warn you not to touch them. I have slight ADD and dyslexia."

Percy muttered something that sounded like "That darned Death Breath."

"I suppose I'll go?" Reyna asked. "My sister, Hylla, and I were raised for a few years by our father until he died in a car crash. Hylla took me away, and we eventually ended up on Circe's island. We became her assistants until…well, four years ago. That's when Percy and Annabeth showed up and set the pirates free. Blackbeard held us captive. Hylla and I quickly learned to use weapons well, and he came to respect us. We were able to escape and we made it to the wolf house. When we'd arrived at camp, Hylla told me of the Amazons. She went to join them and left me. But I fared well. I'm good with pretty much any weapon, but I prefer my dagger. I'm quite good with battle strategy, being a daughter of Belonna. I have ADD and slight dyslexia."

There was a silence after that. Annabeth broke it by saying, "Reyna, I'm really sorry–"

"Don't be. If it weren't for you I wouldn't be praetor. The world would have been destroyed as well if it weren't for you two. Jason? I believe it is your turn."

"I guess I'll skip all of the pre-camp parts. Reyna and I went on a quest together with Gwendolyn to slay the Trojan sea monster. On the way, we ran into some venti, Dracnae, centaurs, and more. We stole Aurum and Argentium, found help and shelter from Aeolus, made some way through the labyrinth, and of course slew the monster. On our way back, we wound up on Mt. Othrys by way of the labyrinth, and saw Saturn was in a kind of coffin. We _were _going to stab him, but some of his followers came, so we fled. They chased us as we were running, and tried to drag us into this big stadium. Something happened and they weren't able to, though. We got back to camp and hip-hip hooray.

"During the war, I fought Krios, killed him, and let the legion to topple the throne of Saturn." Leo whistled, impressed. He'd heard parts of the story before, but never the whole thing. "I _used_ to use Ivlivs, but now that it's broken, I use the gladii that Juno gave me. I can summon lightning, create air storms, and control the winds. I have ADD."

Percy nudged Annabeth, who nudged him back. They began a war of "You go!"s until Annabeth finally rolled her eyes and gave in.

"I grew up with my dad, stepmother, and half-brothers. They never really appreciated me, so I ran away when I was seven. I met Luke and Thalia in Virginia. Grover got us to camp, but…you all know what happened. I once tried going back home for the school year, but it didn't work out. I was a year-rounder until five years ago. Then it worked out with my dad. I usually fight with my knife, but I'm good with just about anything. Being a daughter of Athena, I'm naturally smart, and I've been told that I'm an exceptional architect. I have ADHD and dyslexia. Percy can tell you the rest."

"Uh, yeah, okay. To put it shortly…

"I killed the fury Alecto before I knew I was a demigod, and when I was getting to camp I killed the Minotaur. I got a quest with Grover and Annabeth to go to the underworld and retrieve Zeus's master bolt. On the way killed two furies, I slew Medusa, battled the chimera, jumped out of the Gateway Arch, and was known as a fugitive to the mortals. We got stuck in the Lotus Hotel and Casino for a while, encountered Procrustes, befriended Cerberus, almost got dragged to Tartarus, and I battled Ares and won. We got the bolt back to Olympus, and Luke betrayed us to Kronos.

"The next year, we encountered stymphalian birds. Tyson, Annabeth, and I followed Clarisse on her quest for the golden fleece, we killed the hydra, faced Scylla and Chadbrys, went to Circe's island," Percy nodded at Reyna, "faced the Sirens, battled Polyphemus, and helped Clarisse get the golden fleece. Then it worked _too_ well and brought Thalia back to life." Leo could feel his jaw slowly dropping to the floor.

"Half a year later Grover, Annabeth, Thalia, and I found Nico and Bianca under the watch of the Manticore in a school. The Manticore took Annabeth; Artemis went to find her, and Zoë–lieutenant of Artemis at the time–Thalia, Bianca, Grover, and I went on a quest to find Artemis, who'd gone missing. I defeated the Nemean Lion with freeze-dried ice cream, became friends with Apollo–who, by the way, is an…_interesting_ poet–, we faced skeleton warriors, rode the Erymathian Boar to safety, found out that Nico and Bianca had been in the Lotus Hotel and Casino since World War II, and Bianca died. We had a run-in with Ares and Aphrodite, I captured Nereus, got the Ophiotarus to safety with Grover's help, I met Rachel at Hoover Dam, we met Annabeth's family, went to Mt. Othrys, I held the weight of the sky, I fought Atlas, Artemis got Atlas back in his place, Zoë died because of Atlas–her father. Thalia became a hunter of Artemis, therefore passing the great prophecy onto me." Leo was pretty sure his jaw would snap off at any moment and fall to the ground at any moment.

"A few months later," Percy continued, "I did another thing that I'm not allowed to speak of. Anyways, the third year at camp, Annabeth got a quest to go through the labyrinth. Tyson and Grover came with us. We met Janus and Hera, rescued Briares from Kampê, found Nico–who had gone missing–at Geryon's ranch, I cleaned the stables of the man-eating horses, and killed Geryon. Then we followed an automaton spider to Hephaestus, Tyson and Grover separated from us to find Pan, Annabeth and I went to Mt. Saint Helen's and fought some telekhines, I made Mt. Saint Helen's erupt by accident and woke Typhon, and wound up on Calypso's Island. Everyone thought I was dead even though I wasn't. We got Rachel to help us through the labyrinth, we encountered a sphinx, I defeated Antaeus, and found out that the swords master that year was really Dedaelus. We saw Kronos rise in Luke's form, Rachel nailed him in the eye with a blue plastic hairbrush, found Pan, who faded, we had a battle at camp, and Dedaelus died, taking the labyrinth with him. I also found the bronze dragon, uh, Festus, with Beckendorf, and we had to fight a ton of these giant ants and stuff.

"I went to the underworld a second time, but I'm not allowed to tell you guys what happened there. Last summer, I went with Beckendorf to blow up Kronos' cruise ship, but…"

"It didn't work out?" Piper guessed. "It didn't explode?"

"It exploded, but…" _So that's how he died_, Leo thought. "Beckendorf didn't make it. The ship blew up with him on it. I went to the underworld again with Nico, got the curse of Achilles, met Hestia earlier on, fought the Clazmonian sow, got the east and Hudson rivers to defend the city, Annabeth and I set up defenses for Manhattan, fought hyperborean giants, met Prometheus, acquired Pandora's _pithos_, gave the _pithos_ to Hestia. Then Silena came along leading the Ares cabin into battle. She…died, trying to kill a drakon. Clarisse avenged her death and killed it. I fought and defeated Helios, and I fought Kronos. In the end, Luke came through, and I gave him Annabeth's knife so he could kill himself, therefore killing Kronos. Then there's the whole deal about Rachel stealing my pegasus and becoming the Oracle. And…that's it. I use _Anaklusmos_, or Riptide, for my weapon. I can control water, create water-influenced storms, and I can create earthquakes. I also have ADHD and dyslexia."

After a long moment of awkward silence Leo said, "Wow."

"I know!" Percy said with slight disdain. "She hijacked Blackjack!"

Leo hadn't expected that as a reply. He cast his glance around the room, saw Reyna's eyes bulging, Jason looking stunned, Frank and Hazel with mixed expressions of surprise and awe. Piper's jaw was dropped, and Leo could only guess that his was as well.

Annabeth was calmly polishing her knife. She suddenly looked up at them. "You're done? I thought it would take longer. Well, I guess we can go to lunch now, right?"

Slowly, Leo nodded, wondering how in Hades she and Percy could sound so nonchalant about it all.

"What, exactly, is this 'great prophecy' you mentioned?" Reyna asked.

"You mean you don't have it at Camp Jupiter?" Percy asked.

"Well, I don't know the prophecy, so I would hardly be able to know if we do have it at camp. "

"Oh, you'd know if you did," Leo heard Percy mutter. "It goes:

_A half blood of the eldest gods  
>Shall reach sixteen against all odds,<br>And see the world in endless sleep,  
>The hero's soul cursed blade shall reap.<br>A single choice shall end his days,  
>Olympus to preserve or raze<em>."

After a moment, Reyna said, "You're right. I've never heard of it. What–what did it mean?"

Leo didn't really want to know any more about reaping or razing, but he sat, fiddling with tools and bolts, listening.

"The first two lines referred to me. I turned sixteen on August eighteen."

"The day the war ended," Leo recalled from what Jason had told him.

"Yeah. Morpheus put all of the mortals in the city to sleep so that there'd be less chaos during the battle. The cursed blade was Annabeth's knife."

Annabeth looked up from her knife once again. Her eyes grey eyes were unyielding, her expression impenetrable. "Luke gave it to me when we met. He promised me a family with him and Thalia when he did, but he broke that promise. Percy's choice was whether or not to give the knife to Luke so he could stab himself and kill Kronos. Because of that, Olympus was saved."

Leo was still stunned, but his grumbling stomach snapped him out of his reverence. "Come on. Everyone will be in the hall by now. The buffet's already set up, and I don't want everyone getting all the food before us."

* * *

><p><strong>Now...Review. I <em>can<em> check stats, you know.  
><strong>


	14. XIV PercySally

**Thank you _so_ much to _Percy Jackson Fan Girl_ for reminding me to post!**

**Book suggestions: _The Book Thief_ is set in Nazi Germany. It is about a girl named Leisel Memenger, and it's narrated by Death. I'm reading it right now, and it's amazing! It's also a challenging read. The library catalog says that the reading level is "Z" and that it's normally more appealing for grades nine to twelve. I would also suggest _Speak_. It's the story of a girl who goes into high school and who would rather not speak than say what happened the year before that made all her friends hate her.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO/HoO. But in six and a half months I will own a copy of The Demigod Diaries, and two months after that I will own a copy of The Mark of Athena.**

**Oh yeah! When I watched the interview with Rick Riordan and saw The Lost Hero, The Son of Neptune, and The Throne of Fire in hardback but the rest in paperback, I laughed and thought, _Haha! I have The Throne of Fire and The Son of Neptune in paperback! And I could just walk down to the bookstore anytime and g_**_**et The Lost Hero in**** paperback!**_ **I know. I'm mean.**

* * *

><p>Percy sat down at the table containing Katie, Clarisse, the Stolls, Bobby, Frank, and Hazel. Jason, Piper, and Leo went to meet some of Jason's old friends. Reyna and Annabeth were with Rachel and some of the Romans. Connor and Travis were discussing the first prank they were going to pull. Hazel and Katie were getting to know each other, which was making Hazel a little stressed, or at least Percy guessed so due to the fact that gems had begun popping up under the table. Frank and Bobby were conversing while Clarisse was carefully scrutinizing her half brother, probably considering whether or not she should skewer him.<p>

As he sat, Frank turned to him and asked, "Where's the drinks? We only got cups."

"You just tell it what you want." Percy looked at his cup and said, "Blue cherry coke." Once the class was full, he took a sip and grinned. It reminded him of home. _Home. Mom. Crud!_ _I still have to see her and Paul!_ "Styx!" Percy's outburst made everyone at the table jump.

"What is it?" Katie asked, venturing carefully.

"My mom…"

"Oh. You could just get Blackjack and Guido to pick them up and bring her and Paul here, then sent them back after a while."

"Yeah, I guess. Or I could just Iris message he-"

"Prissy, they visited camp once a month since you disappeared to check up on any news about you. Your mom almost fainted when she found out you were traded with Jason by era. She'll want to see you in person." Percy found it just about alarming that _Clarisse_ was the one who'd said that.

"Fine," Percy sighed. He got up and did just as Katie had suggested.

–Sally POV–

Sally finished packing her bag. She'd gotten Percy's message a few days ago and wanted to confer with Chiron soon. Paul came out into the living room and wrapped his arms around her from behind.

"Don't worry, Sally. I'm sure he's fine."

"You know how much has happened to him, though. And he's on another quest-"

"And he's survived everything so far, so why _wouldn't_ he be able to live through this?"

"Paul, he–" Sally was cut off by a lout _thump_ on the fire escape and neighing. She dashed to the windowsill and found two pegasi outside. One was speckled white on medium grey, and the other was a beautiful raven black. The latter had a piece of paper tied around its neck with a…shoelace.

Paul joined her at the window, looked shocked, and then recovered. He reached out to the winged horse and untied the shoelace. He unfolded the note and held it out so that both he and Sally could read it. The familiar scrawl of handwriting brought tears to Sally's eyes.

_On the Argo 2.  
>No bags needed.<br>Take Blackjack +Guido.  
>Miss you,<br>Percy._

–Percy POV–

"I'll make this as brief as possible. Each floor has toilets. On the deck there's the captain's office, outdoor dining for good weather, storage rooms, a training arena, stables, and a small pool. The first lower level has weaponry, indoor dining, and storage. The next has the meeting room, the strategy room, storage, and the kitchen. Next, there are the rooms, storage, and a library. On the second-to-last floor is a large pool, training arena, archery range, racing path, and a replica of the rock wall at Camp Half Blood. Lastly, there's a small rec. room, a small lounge, and more storage.

"Rules. Caroline has specifically asked me to tell you that you have to call her Ceci. No boys in girls' rooms and vice-versa. No entering the supply rooms, kitchen, captain's office, meeting room, or strategy room in any way without given permission. The weapons available are only for if you don't have say, a bow, and you're practicing archery. Then you can use it, but put it back right after use. If you're low on arrows, you can restock, and if a weapon gets damaged beyond repair or just broken, then you can replace it. Breakfast starts at seven thirty and ends at eight thirty; lunch will be from twelve to one, dinner from seven thirty to eight thirty, and lights out at ten. No questions? Good. Now go do whatever mingle on deck, talk in rooms, train, whatever." Leo stepped off the podium and everyone began moving.

Percy stood up and pushed through the crowd at the door to Annabeth. "Hey, Wise Girl."

"Seaweed Brain," she acknowledged. "How about a duel?"

"Sounds good. No armor, disarming?"

"Great."

"Listen, there's something I–"

"What have you done now?" Annabeth sighed.

Percy quickly explained what was going on with his mom and Paul. "I already told Leo about it, and he was fine with it. He said he wanted to meet them. I would have thought he'd met them when she came, but I guess he was busy building the ship."

"Exactly. Well, when they arrive we'll deal with them. But for now, we fight." Annabeth turned to face him when they reached the arena.

She smiled.

Percy smiled.

And they began.

Neither of them really had to think about what they were doing. Percy knew exactly what she was going to do, and he guessed it was the same with Annabeth. It was as if each of them were fighting themselves. Neither had to questioned their judgment of the other's actions. The whole process was more similar to a dance than a fight. _If demigods had dances, then this is what it would be more like_, Percy thought.

"So, Percy," _swipe_, "is it true you remembered me the whole time?"

"Yeah. It's like, I remembered what you looked like," _duck_, "and I remembered your name, but not much more other than," _jump, feint, swipe_, "that you kissed me whenever I did something stupid. When I was in San Francisco," _try to disarm, roll_, "I felt that there was somehow a connection between you and the city. Then when we were finding Ella, we went," _lunge_, "through a library, and I thought _Annabeth would love this. The books and_," _block, back-step, swipe, duck_,"_the architecture of the place._"

"That sounds like me." _Parry, duck, kick, jump, stab, roll, swipe._

"Yeah. Then I remembered something about you bringing me to a library, then the memory slipped away." Percy applied his signature move, and…Annabeth's knife flew from her hand and skittered across the arena. "I win."

Annabeth smiled her charming smile, and took a step towards him. She was about to take another step when… "_Guys! _There's something coming towards us!" Frank warned. Only then did Percy realize some people had stopped to watch their fight. Most of them were Romans who were studying the Greek fighting style. Percy looked up at the sky and saw two spot approaching.

Grinning, Percy glanced at Frank and said, "Frank, let's meet my _real_ family.

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><p><strong>I'll update once I have 140-150 reviews. You can do it!<strong>


	15. XV Percy

**Gods! I never expected to get so many reviews! I'm gonna make the next chapter and post it next Wednesday, but I'm giving you an early warning. I have to prepare for this conference thing that my club is involved in, so the updates will be irregular until the beginning of May. Check out my profile, at the bottom of my Bio. I added something that will hopefully be of interest to you. :D**

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><p>Percy ran up to his mom and Paul, embracing his mom, then giving Paul a man-hug. "Mom, Paul! I missed you guys so much."<p>

"Percy," his mom said, nearly crying. "It's really you."

"Uh, yeah,"

"I expect you to make up all that English homework you missed," Paul told his soon-to-be stepson. When Percy cringed, Paul laughed it off and continued, "Just kidding. It's great to see you too, Percy."

"Percy, what happened when you were away? We got your call, but that didn't really explain much."

Percy briefly explained what had occurred, trying do dampen down the scarier parts (which didn't really work), then began introductions before his mom could tell him off for getting on a quest. Which also didn't work.

"Mom, Paul, this is-"

"_Perseus Jackson. Don't you dare try to escape!_ _I told you to be careful, and so of course you get kidnapped by a goddess, taken to a Roman Camp, go on an extremely dangerous quest on which you almost died multiple times, and leave Paul and me in the dark worrying about you and praying everything was all right._"

"Uh..."

"But at least you're back."

"Yeah...um, just a moment." Percy turned to the crowd (which now consisted of everyone on board). "Okay! Back to your activities, everyone. Everyone but Hazel, Frank, Leo, Piper, Jason, Reyna and Annabeth, that is."

All the campers grumbled as they dispersed, probably wanting to see more of Percy being humiliated. Percy began introductions once it was only his mom, Paul, the other seven demigods and him. "I guess you guys know Piper, Leo, and Jason already?"

"Yes. What a surprise it was for Thalia..." his mom trailed off. _What does she mean?_ Percy wondered.

Deciding to forget it, Percy continued. "Well, this is Hazel, daughter of Pluto, which would be Hades."

Hazel shook hands with the adults, her gold eyes shining brightly. "Pleased to meet you. I grew up in New Orleans in, well, the nineteen-thirties." Paul's eyebrows raised considerably more than Percy's mom's. Apparently after a year and a half he still wasn't used to all the weird stuff. "My mom and I died in Alaska in 1942. Nico brought me back."

"And this is Frank. He's a son of Mars - Ares."

"From Canada. Nice to meet you after all Percy's told us. And that mysterious phone call."

"Uh, yeah. And this here's Reyna, daughter of Bellona and praetor of the twelfth legion. Annabeth and I met her sister a few years ago and..."

"What did you do?" his mom asked in a warning tone.

"We-"

"They came to Circe's island and destroyed it, leaving us to the pirates that had been set free."

"Percy," Sally sighed.

"Percy? We're running out of time."

"Yeah, okay. So, just wanted to see you guys again before we go to Rome and Greece. I really wish you could stay longer, but if you don't leave now, it'll take you guys forever to get back to the apartment, and pegasi generally don't like carrying mortals for some reason. I had to bribe them with sugar cubes to get them to bring you guys here."

_And you'd better have a whole bucket load of them ready by the time we get back, boss._

"You aren't getting any more, Blackjack. Much less a whole bucket. Now, shush!"

_Well, it's not like they can hear me._

"But I can. Anyways, I'd love you to stay, but Leo's right. If we don't speed this boat up in the next thirty minutes, we'll never get to Rome on time."

"Then we'll go. Just promise me one thing, Percy."

"Yeah?"

"Try to stay alive." His mother's face was full of sorrow and pain.

"I can't promise you that. I'm sorry. I really am."

She nodded and mounted Blackjack. Before Paul climbed onto Guido's back he turned to Percy and said, "You've got some serious schoolwork to make up. And the wedding's at the end of July, when this should all be over." Then the two of them took off, back to Manhattan, looking back and waving at Percy.

_I can't believe I completely forgot the wedding,_ Percy thought. _It was supposed to be in February!_

"Percy, Jason? I need you two for a moment," Leo stated, bringing Percy out of his thoughts. Percy turned to Annabeth and told her to meet him at the rock wall in fifteen minutes. The sons of Hephaestus, Jupiter, and Poseidon made their way to the captain's quarters where Leo began hooking up a GPS. Apparently it required the assistance of two other people. Who knew?

"Uh, Leo?"

"Just a minute, Percy. Jason, could you put that red wire into it's hole? Uh, no that hole. And I have to plug this here when you do that, so..."

"Leo?"

"Oh yeah, Percy? I need you to attach these wires together while I'm doing this."

"Leo, we're at forty degrees forty-seven minutes north, seventy-one degrees twenty five minutes west, going at nine and a half knots. We can speed the boat up to twenty five knots so that we'd get to Rome in six and a half to seven days, depending on how many monster attacks occur. And why didn't you install the GPS when you built this thing anyway?"

"Uh, I don't know and...wow. How the Hades did you figure all that out?"

"Son of Poseidon. Perfect bearings at sea," Percy told him, smirking.

"Okay, seriously? Unfair!"

"Dude," Jason said, "you can sense mechanical things, control fire, work any piece of machinery perfectly, and make just about anything, and you call that unfair?"

"Fine," Leo grumbled. "I'm gonna go. See ya in a while."

Percy suddenly felt something lurch inside him. Something was out there, in the sea. "Guys, get everyone on deck, armed. We've got a monster."


	16. XVI Annabeth

**Sorry I didn't update, but hey, LIFE GETS IN THE WAY! I'll update ASAP, but I've got a bunch of activities! :)**

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><p>After Leo warned Annabeth that some monster was going to attack, Annabeth ran through the ship, getting everyone in order, bringing them up to the deck of the ship. She dashed up to the front of the ship where everyone was gathering. Percy and Jason were standing side by side, both of them slightly tense.<p>

"Is everyone here?" Percy called out.

"Good," Jason said.

"Camp Jupiter-" (Jason)

"Camp Half Blood-" (Percy)

Percy twitched.

Jason twitched.

They tried again.

"Camp-"

"Camp-"

They twitched again. Annabeth had to stifle a laugh. It was just too funny! Apparently both of them were used to being in charge and neither of them could stand someone else taking over too much. Annabeth then sighed in exasperation. She and Reyna looked at each other. A silent understanding passed through the new friends. They walked up and both pushed their co-leaders out of the way and took charge.

"Archers!" Reyna called. "Spread yourselves evenly at the sides of the ship."

"If you're fighting with a gleave, spear, or javelin, we'll need you at the two ends and some at the sides."

"Darts and daggers, in between the archers. Gladii and swords, you'll need to grab a different weapon for this." Groans came from those with swords

"The rest of you, man the cannons!"

Annabeth joined Percy at the bow and looked out over the ocean. "What is it?" she asked.

"I don't know, but it's big. Really big. Maybe even larger than this ship."

"That can't be good."

"Nope. I'll be able to try to get him controlling the water. Jason will be able to help me somehow."

He twitched when he said Jason's name.

Jason came up to join them. Piper and Reyna were at the other end of the ship with Hazel, he said, and Leo was in charge of the other two who were handling the cannons. Soon everything became silent. Everyone was rigid, waiting for any sign of attack.

Annabeth surveyed the layout of warriors. The Romans and Greeks seemed to be separated. Romans on the left, Greeks on the right. Even Jason was standing with the Romans and Percy with the Greeks. Annabeth was in the exact center.

Another minute or so passed in complete silence. Annabeth's mind was spinning. _If it comes up in front of us, we attack up here. If it's behind us, we wait and don't leave our positions. If it breathes fire, Leo will handle most of the close-range fighting. If it's completely water, that'll be Percy. If it has wings or can fly, then Jason. If it's got two heads, then we're pretty much doomed. Only long-range weapons for this, unless the monster comes close, in which case we'll use all of our short-range weapons. First I'll shoot an arrow. If it surfaces there, then I'll have to shoot it with strong tension to get the right velocity, and if it comes closer I need to aim for more speed so that it's more dangerous. The height shouldn't matter too much unless..._ Her thoughts went on and on like that until the bump came.

Cries of surprise sounded throughout the boat revealing that none of the campers had seen the beast, therefore none of them had anticipated the sudden jolt that rocked the ship. Soon another thump came, but it was more expected than the last time.

And something surfaced. It was a flat, black head, similar to that of a cat fish's, but when the rest of the face and neck appeared, any thoughts of fish evaporated from Annabeth's mind. The nostrils were huge with long, thick, coarse hair; the neck short and thick.

"Attack!" The battle cry sounded throughout the ship. Annabeth let loose an arrow, sinking into a gill. Many more arrows reached their targets, but none seemed to faze the creature, only make it angrier. The sea monster reared up to display webbed feet laying across its flank in rows. When the creature dived down, its tail showed to be flat like a crayfish's. The name of the creature immediately popped into Annabeth's head. It was Scoloprendra, a gargantuan sea monster. It was the largest of all the Ketos (sea monsters). It had been defeated by exactly what they were doing: pummeling it with arrows, spears, and javelins.

Percy and Jason looked at each other around Annabeth and nodded. Annabeth could only guess that they had come to some previous agreement about what they would do. Percy promptly stood up on the edge of the boat and dove down into the water. Jason let the air support him and floated in the air out over the ocean.

Annabeth let loose more arrows, one after another. After a few minutes, sounds of cannons being fired off erupted through the chaos, drowning out the sounds of shouts from other campers. Jason was starting to brew up a storm, and Annabeth hoped that Percy would soon start up his own bit. Just after thinking that, Percy surfaced, waving his hands. _What could that possibly mean? He can't drown..._

Someone clapped a hand on Annabeth's shoulder. Instinctively, she dropped her bow, grabbed her knife, and spun around to face the att–wait, Tyson?

"Annabeth!"

"Not right now, Tyson! I'm sorry, but not right now!"

"Listen to Percy! Percy says no!"

"What?" Annabeth spun around to face the sea. Jason was lowering himself back on board.

"What do you think Percy's thinking?" he asked.

Another cannon blasted.

"I don't know, but it can't be good, that Seaweed Brain. Let's go out."

Jason nodded and they were floating up, over the water, and to Percy, who was safely out of range from the attack.

As soon as they got into hearing range, Annabeth called, "What's going on, Percy?" She ducked as an off-course arrow whizzed over her head, followed by a shout of "Sorry!" from the Argo. She crouched down to get closer to Percy so that she could hear his reply.

"We need to stop the attack!"

"Wha'd'ya mean?" Jason asked.

"We need to stop the attack before someone kills him!"

"But that's kind of our goal," Annabeth remarked.

"But he's not going to hurt us!"

"Well, he tried to harm those other sailors," Annabeth muttered, pushing back a strand of hair that had come loose.

"Only because they taunted him. Or at least that's what Scolop says..."

"Scolop?" Without turning around, Annabeth could tell that Jason had raised an eyebrow as he'd asked that.

Another cannon shot rang out, drowning Percy's answer. "What?" Annabeth shouted over the din that had gotten louder.

"I said–oh, does it really matter? Just...get them to stop, okay? I'm trying to calm him down."

Annabeth shrugged. She and Jason began floating back towards the ship, shouting the orders to not attack. Slowly, the campers stopped shooting their arrows and other missiles and watched the two expectantly.

"Don't attack, guys. Apparently the Scoloprendra isn't going to harm us," Jason called out.

"We've gotta wait until Percy's up here to tell you what's going on. We don't actually know, ourselves..." Annabeth trailed off as a loud screech came from the beast in the water accompanied by Percy's shout for help.


	17. XVII Percy

**IMPORTANT!**

**1. I would have updated either yesterday or this morning, but the link to sign in kept on timing out.  
>2. Besides the conference thing that I've gotta do a project for, I'm also starting up a read-a-thon at my school with bookbook and SpringFling.<br>3. There's a little something called homework.  
>4. I'm on a HUGE writer's block with this story.<br>5. I'm quite stressed right now in life, this being the semester with tons of homework and activities. I'll update if I happen to have some spare time on my hands and I write a chapter, but for the most part, this story is on hiatus. I'm sorry. :(**

**I know this is short, but my mom was forcing me to write (never thought I'd live to see the day!) a chapter so that I could tell you guys that I'm on hiatus and I've got a serious case of writer's block.  
><strong>

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><p>XVII Percy<p>

"Guys, he got hit!" Percy shouted out. "I need some help out here for him!" The squealing from the monster were getting louder every second

Some orders were given and followed out on board the ship. Soon enough, a lifeboat accompanied by two people and a medical kit was lowered into the water. Percy pushed the currents so that the small boat got close within a minute. On board were Will and that Jacob guy, both were sons of Apollo and so both were healers. Percy ushered them down underwater and created a bubble so that they'd be able to breathe.

"It's right here," he told them. "He got hit by a cannon. I've taken the cannon out, but it's still pretty bad."

"And you're sure that this big guy's not going to hurt us?" Will asked quizzically.

"Of course I am! He told me."

"He _told_ you?" Jacob raised an eyebrow.

"He can understand and speak to horses and water animals," Will explained shortly.

"In that case, why wouldn't he be right?"

"Yeah Will, why _wouldn't _I be right."

"Well, you _have_ been known to mess up sometimes…"

"Yeah? When?"

"There was that time when you–"

"Never mind! But yes, I'm sure."

"Okay, then…" Will and Jacob went to work on the wound while Percy sent calming thoughts, which eventually turned into a conversation.

Scolop: _How long will this take?_

Percy: _I have no idea._

Scolop: _If I don't die, I'm in debt to you demigods._

Percy: _I hope that's a good thing._

Scolop: _It is._

Percy: _Then if you do become in our debt, will you fight with us against the giants when we're near the ocean?_

Scolop: _No. They brought me back._

Percy: _Then will you come to help us when I call you?_

Scolop: _It's a deal._

"Percy, we're done," Will said, snapping Percy out of his concentration.

"Oh, uh okay."

Percy:_ You're good._

The monster wiggled, then swam away, satisfied, with the last call of _I'll be there._

_Man, I hope Annabeth won't kill me over the false alarm_, was all that Percy could think as they headed back to the ship.


	18. XVIII Piper Frank Percy

**Gods, it's been forever since I've updated with an actual update on this story! I finished _The Serpent's Shadow_ this morning (at 12:01 am, in fact) and I am SO hyped up about it! I love how Lacy and Drew are in it! (Thank you, PJO-HoO-KC-HG-Luver, for telling me that so that I started reading it.) I also love how all of the couples end up. I mean, I don't even mind who Sadie ended up with! (Well, I did, but you know, like, I wanted her to end up with Anubis and not Walt, but then when I figured out [very near the beginning of the book for me] what was going to happen, I absolutely loved the idea!)**

**Does anybody else think that what Sadie and Carter's mom said to Sadie is kind of foreshadowing another series? Or possibly does it mean that they'll show up in the HoO series or maybe even the Norse series? That would be cool.**

**I found it sad how the gods had to retreat into the heavens and how there's no more Isis in Sadie and Horus in Carter and _ in _. But I am SO glad that _ stayed in _.  
><strong>

**I'm thinking of writing a story about Drew and Lacy in BAG and/or one about maybe the Kanes and some PJO/HoO characters in Norse mythology (that is, once I actually find something more out about Norse mythology besides that there's a god named Thor). And currently, I've got the first chapter written of a story about Leo and Piper in the Wilderness School before Jason shows up (sorry, Liper lovers, but there won't be any of it in there besides mutual friendship).**

**Also, to those looking forward to the next chapter of my Thalia story: Remember how my file got deleted off the computer? Yeah, well...two full chapters (in my opinion, the two best chapters I've ever written) of that story were on there, and frankly, they were too good for me to just replicate when I'm not on a long break (I wrote those two chapters during the December break), so I'm going to skip those two chapters until the June to August break where I'll hopefully be able to type them up.**

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><p><span>Piper<span>**  
><strong>

Once Piper saw that Jason and Percy were safely aboard and had hugged Jason in relief, she left to go train with Hazel. That is, until Leo had come along. Hazel was still obviously freaked out about Leo being her ex-boyfriend's grandson because she involuntarily flinched away from him.

"So, ladies. We'll be arriving in Rome in about a day. That's a ton faster than it should be. We would be getting there in five and a half days normally at top speed, but somehow... I don't know. Anyways, where do you guys want to go?"

Hazel's golden eyes immediately sparked up with adoration as she said, "Ooh, the Colosseum. I've always wanted to go there. And I want to see one of the original Roman forums."

"Why?" Piper asked. "You already have a forum, and it's not in ruins."

"Yeah," Hazel shrugged, "but I want to see how New Rome would look like if it were demolished."

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><p><span>Frank<span>

Frank was giving some archery tips to a girl named Lacy. She'd seen him practicing hand had decided that he was a good archer, and asked him for some tips, because she wanted to be more than a stuck-up child of Aphrodite that some girl named Drew thought the whole should be like.

Anyways, Frank was giving Lacy a pointer on how she should aim when she interrupted him and said, "Do you ever think there could be more gods out there besides the Greek and Roman ones?"

"Uh...what?"

"Like, last fall I thought there were only Greek gods; that the Roman ones had died out or hadn't really ever existed at all. But then when it was almost winter, I found out that there were Roman gods as well and that the Greek gods weren't the only gods. So then once we got to the Roma–I mean, Camp Jupiter, and we got definite, solid proof that the Roman gods were real, I started thinking. Like, what if there's a Buddha out there, or if there's the Muslim or Hindu gods, or possibly a Christian or Jewish god–maybe even Egyptian gods or Norse gods."

Frank set his bow down and pondered the possibility. Until only two weeks ago he'd thought that the only real gods were the Roman gods. Then he had found out about the Greek deities and been almost stunned–_Could there really be Greek gods,_ he'd thought. He hadn't ever believed Octavian's stories about demigods who "turned" on the legion and decided they liked the Greek gods better. "I don't know," he said after a while. "I mean, it makes sense with the Greeks and Romans because the Roman gods were based off of the Greek ones and are basically the same, put aside names and personalities. They look alike, they represent the same things, and they...well, they're still kind of the same."

"I guess so, but the Greek gods are based off of the Egyptian ones in some way, I think. There's a story from Egypt where, at the downfall of Ancient Egypt, the gods and goddesses fled, fearing it was the end of their reign, or that maybe if the Egyptian civilization crumbled, then it would have a domino effect on the rest of the world."

"Self-centered much?" Frank muttered.

Lacy rolled her eyes and continued. "So they left their people and found themselves in Greece, where they found themselves slightly different–no animal heads and stuff like that. Then the Greeks discovered them and gave them different names and roles, as they didn't know the original ones. Thoth became Hermes, from knowledge to messengers; Bastet became Artemis, from cats to the moon, hunt, and archery. You see? So maybe there could be other gods out there."

"Yeah, I guess, but if just doesn't seem like it could be."

"That's what I thought before I found out about the Romans," Lacy stated solidly. She turned away to go to dinner, leaving Frank to sit alone, gazing at the wood deck washed a golden kind of red from the setting sun, as he thought about her strong argument.

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><p><span>Percy<span>

"Mm, Pizza and gelato. Two of the most wonderful things in the world," Percy said as he stood next to Annabeth and watched as the shore of Italy got nearer and nearer. The sun was setting in a perfect movie-scene way. The sky was turning orange and red before their eyes. No doubt the sun would be all the way down in about thirty minutes at most **(Sorry, guys, but I'm just guessing here. This is about late sunset, and I don't really remember how fast the sun sets in other parts of the world besides Kansas in the summertime (it takes FOREVER), and in Indonesia all year long (five seconds [okay, maybe that was an exaggeration–ten to twenty minutes])**.

"So what are the other 'most wonderful things in the world'?" Annabeth questioned him in a slightly mock-teasing tone.

"Hmm... Well, there's junk food, sleeping in on Sunday mornings, camp, fighting monsters, and...hmm, I know there's something else... Ah, yes." He turned to face Annabeth. "You." He pulled her closer. "You top the list." They were just about to kiss when a cough interrupted them. Percy and Annabeth hastily pulled away from each other. Standing before them was Leo. _In all his annoyingly bad-timed glory_, Percy couldn't help but think.

"Hey, guys. Just a heads up, but we're about to enter the strait of Gibraltar, and Jason says that the simple legs of Hades are there."

"Simple legs of Hades?" Percy and Annabeth asked together in confusion.

"Well, he said it a bit faster, like simplegades or something..."

Percy laughed out loud. "Dude, good job. You've got the potential to be like me."

A look of comprehension crossed Annabeth's face and she raised her eyebrows in amusement. Percy guessed that she was about to become a walking wikipedia article. But then again, it would be good to know what Leo meant.

"You mean the symplegades? It's pronounced sim-pleg-uh-deez. They're a pair of rocky islands that used to be at the entrance to the Black Sea. They would clash together whenever a ship came through, so nobody was able to pass them, but it was said that if someone was able to pass through them, the rocks would stop clashing together. Athena assisted the Argonauts as they went through, but now I guess they've moved like Western civilization has, so now they're here, and we'll have to go through them."

"So the symplegades," Percy said. "I guess they're shrouded in mist, the mortals can't see them, it doesn't affect the mortals but it will affect us, and we're going at too fast of a speed to get into the air in time."

"Yep," Leo agreed grimly as Annabeth said, "Probably."

"Then what do we do?" Reyna, who had just come up, asked. Then turning to Annabeth, she asked, "Do you have a plan?"

Annabeth smiled. "Athena always has a plan."


	19. XIX Percy

**I thought this was two chapters, then...GASP! I found out it was only one. Now I feel like crying because I spent so long writing this, and I'm still on writer's block and I haven't updated in so long and, and, and... *bawls***

**Well, my reasons for not updating: I was on an FF ban from my mom until yesterday. I was at camp for two weeks, and I told all the Juniors and Brownies that my name was Piper, and Briezy said it was Padiddle, so we were called that for a whole two weeks. :D Also, I moved from Indonesia back to the U.S. Not saying anymore than the East Coast.**

**There's bigh chicken legs here...and nobody knows what a Toyota Kijang is here...and I almost keep on saying "Terimakasi" to the check-out people... Such a strange land, this place is...**

**ANYWAYS, a few words to some people:**

**ALL READERS: If you are going to review my stories, then please sign in. If you are too lazy to, then please say that and sign it with your username, or else I will have to delete it.**

**To all guest reviewers: Sorry I had to delete your reviews, but I wasn't allowed to keep them. Thanks, though!**

**To Rosabell: I'm sorry, but I'm not going low enough as you are, so Il just say that your review was not accepted and that this is a fanfic. I'm not a published author or anything, so of course it's not perfect. Thank you for your interest in my story, and I hpe that you might be more critical and not as brash in future reviews to not only my story but others as well.**

**To Sumone: Good to know what you think. This ****_is_**** fanfiction, you know, so of course it's not going to be like Rick Riordan's work. I apreciate your interest in my story, but your review was not accepted.**

**To ANS: Thank you for recognizing that, as I am my own indidvidual self and do not posess Rick Riordan's skill.**

**To 1: Wait... did you start my stories or Rick Riordan's when you were 6? I only joined FF about a year ago...**

**I do not own PJO/HoO, sadly. It breaks all of your hearts, I know, but it's true. ),:**

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><p>The teens prepared for their plan. They put together a life boat filled with bags of various supplies placed aboard strategically by Annabeth so that it would sail straight and at the precise speed they desired. Anabeth helped Leo push the boat off the trireme and into the sea.<p>

"Now all we have to do is wait," Annabeth said quietly. Everyone was gathered on deck to watch the event. Percy guessd that they also wanted to be able to see what might kill them. THe small boat floated out into the sea, nearing two gigantic rocks. Between the rocks were yachts and cruise ships. Percy hoped there weren't any unknown demigods or clear-sighted mortals aboard any of them.

Everyone watched in anticipation as the little watercraft drifted along the water and between the rocks. For a moment, nothing happened. Some of the anxiety died into dissapointment.

Then something happened. Water began to churn, causing waves to rise and toss the mortal ships around. An obnoxious grinding noise eminated from the symplegades, causing Perfy to clasp his hands over his ears, attempting but failing to block out the sound. It rattled his bones and made his teeth chatter.

"Leo" Annabeth shouted over the rukus. "Percy! Now!"

As leo pushed the ship to as fast as it would go, Percy focussed on the water. He could sense the mortal ships in distress between the ever-narrowing canal between the rocks. Percy pushed the boat as hard as he could and willed a current to push them along. Jason made the wind blow as hard as he could. Percy's gut felt like it might explode from the pressure. Jason's head felt like someone was taking a jackhammer to it. The two had sweat dripping from their foreheads and matting their hair in wet patches.

Leo shook his Wii controller, making sure the sails were as full as they could be. Everyone on board was silent as they neared the two rocks that had begun to re-separate. Percy felt like the _Jaws_ theme should have been playing in the background…or maybe just a drum roll. The ADHD part of his mind wondered how the rocks were even able to move.

The boat forged ahead. The rocks moved apart. For a scary second, Percy thought the opening wouldn't be wide enough for the _Argo_. The rocks were suddenly looming above the demigods on either side of the ship. The opening seemed narrow, but the _Argo II_ sailed straight and true, gliding effortlessly across the large waves and…

A huge cheer erupted from all but one occupant of the ship. Octavian rolled his eyes and blandly muttered, "Hurrah, hurrah," before leaving to his cabin. Percy pumped a fist in the air. Annabeth wrapped her arms around him. He thought she was about to say something, but he never got to find out what it was. A commotion came from the rest of the crowd. Percy turned to face the back of the ship but froze in shock.

Water was churning and forming itself into the shape of a thirty-five foot-tall woman with crab-claw horns clothed in strips of seaweed. The figure wailed and took a swipe at the _Argo _with the giant oar she held in one hand, tearing off half of the main mast and causing the ship to rock back and forth in the water and sending the occupants stumbling, tripping, and falling over each other.

Once they had righted themselves, each demigod pulled out a weapon of some sort, whether it was a spear or a sock. Jason summoned a lightning bolt. It didn't affect the water lady much; it just angered her further. Piper tried to calm her down, but apparently Water Woman (as Percy had decided to call her) wasn't affected by charmspeak. Clarisse ordered everyone to attack, but Annabeth held them back so it was only Clarisse who threw her spear. It didn't matter anyway because all that happened was that the electric spear flew through the air in a perfect arch and struck the monster in the chest. The electricity arched through the water but quickly died.

The mortals were finally starting to notice something, whatever it might me to them. Cries were coming from various yachts and cruise ships as their lights all blinked off.

"Thalassa," Annabeth identified Water Woman. Then, turning to Percy, "She's kind of like the ocean equivalent of Gaia or Ouranos. She shouldn't be awake though… I would have thought… Need to make a plan… only by water…"

Percy got an idea. He closed his eyes and focused on the water, creating a link between it and his body. When he opened his eyes, a twelve yard-tall Water Percy was standing in the sea, copying his every movement. Percy reached into his pocket and pulled out Riptide. Sure enough, an eighteen foot-long water replica of the sword appeared in Water Percy's hand.

Water Woman raised her paddle and sneered. "Filthy Poseidon demigod scum! You will be dead even before you reach the doors of death." She tried to whack Water Percy with the paddle, but Percy blocked it. When the weapons collided, a spray of water drenched everyone aboard except for Percy. To Percy, the impact was harsher than any he'd felt in a sword fight, except for his first few times with Luke. Both Percy and Water Percy stumbled backwards a ways, regaining their footing quickly.

He tried a slice at Water Woman's arm, but she easily blocked the attack and stuck. Percy's mind went onto autopilot. Hit, strike, dodge, slice, parry, jump, block, lean in, kick, and strike. The fight went on and on until Percy did his–and Luke's–signature move and disarmed his opponent with a twist of his wrist. He was about to decapitate Water Woman when she let out one final, ear-splitting wail and burst, drenching the whole boat with salt water, well, everything except Percy. As usual, the water didn't affect him at all.

This time, Percy didn't know if anyone had cheered or not because he'd used up s much of his energy that now he had none left to do anything except fall into a pool of blackness.

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><p>Percy woke up wet. Rather, he <em>would<em> have woken up wet if it weren't for his power over water. The water must have given him some energy, reviving him, as it seemed like the ship hadn't moved very far. Annabeth stood above him. Her face was pale and she wielded a bucket.

"Oh, Percy!" she cried. Percy was relieved to see some color returning to her face. "Oh my gods. We–I–didn't know what happened. She might have killed you, so I thought… Well, it worked, anyways.." She hoisted Percy up and wrapped her arms around him. "Now let's get you in bed before you collapse again."

"Annabeth! I'm fine. I–" Percy pulled away from her and would have dropped to the ground if Travis hadn't caught him.

"There's nothing to se here, guys!" Connor shouted. "Go pack your day bags or something! We're almost there." Everyone began chattering in excitement as they went their own ways. "Better listen to her Percy," Connor said, turning back to the other three. Travis pulled Percy up and Annabeth steadied him. "You need rest. After that show you're definitely drained."

Percy muttered something about people being too over protective and leaned against Annabeth, giving a weak, "See ya," to Connor and Travis.

"Seaweed Brain," Annabeth muttered as they headed down dimly lit hallways and staircases to Room 1. "Do you even _know_ how worried I was? Never mind, of course you do. It's just…you always worry me. Especially since…"

"Don't," Percy said. "We don't need to talk about it. Nobody wants to remember the war, but as veterans, we're doomed to remember it forever."

Annabeth nodded. She'd obviously been thinking the same thing. They were standing in the entrance to Percy's room now. Cried of excitement came from the deck.

"Better get up there, Wise Girl."

"Yeah," she said.

Percy gazed down into her grey eyes that he had known for what now seemed to be like forever. He bent down and kissed her gently.

"See you, Wise Girl."

"Bye, Seaweed Brain."

As soon a Percy climbed into bed, he was out like a light.

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><p><strong>Yay for an update! Please remember what I said above about anonymous reviews! I will hpefully (but not anywhere near definitely) update next week. I have lots of books to finish as I am AT LEAST 10 books behind on my Goodreads goal.<br>**

**Signing out,  
>TWBGSpringFling's Sister/Diane Jasmine's Clone/MaxiChai and bookbook's awesome friend/Girl Who Only Watched Star Wars For The First Time Seven Weeks ago  
><strong>


	20. XX Annabeth

**YES! A chapter! And it's 2,047 words! Yay! I have MoA on Pre-order!**

**I finished Nevermore AND TDD! (The Demigod Diaries, btw)! They were both AMAZINGLY BULIONGOIWEBG! Whoopie! Eat dumpcake! Yipee!**

**I have not updated because moving into a house takes up a LOT of time!  
><strong>

**Now, WAARRRRRRNNNING! I will most likely not update for a while due to 1) lack of ideas for next chappie, 2) school starts on Tuesday and I and in 3 honor's classes and band and French and I'm going to introduce CBL to my new school as soon as I get an email from that Apple guy...  
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**I'm sorry if I haven't answered any PMs or reviews. I'll have to look at those ASAP. Now off to practice flute!  
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><p>Annabeth stood on the deck with the rest of the demigods–well, conscious demigods–and watched in wonder and bewilderment as the shore of Rome drew ever closer. It had taken less than an hour to get from the straight of Gibraltar and the Symplegades to where they were now. Even with the Argo's speed and magic it should have taken at least a day. How this had happened, Annabeth could only guess at. Possibly Leo had underestimated the ship (0.0314159264% possible). Maybe Kronos had come back and suddenly decided that he would join the Olympian's side and had made time around them pass slowly while their boat went at its normal speed (7.24% possible). Or it might be that Gaea had called upon all the sea spirits that had joined her "cause" to speed the half-bloods along to their deaths (83.092% possible). There was also a chance that it could be something else (9.6365840736% possible). Annabeth hoped it was the Kronos theory.<p>

As they approached the shore, the ship began slowly tipping upwards, out of the water and into the sky. The deck tables began to slide, Greeks and Romans toppled all over the place despite their best efforts. The ship was going too fast for a regular ascent. No one seemed to panic. Most people tried to keep themselves where they were while others were laughing and tumbling with their friends. As Annabeth struggled to stay upright she caught a glimpse of Piper out of the corner of her eye. Though the other girl was gripping the edge of the boat, she fell backwards and onto Jason, who also fell. The boat caused the two to skid and roll over each other towards the other, lower end of the trireme.

Annabeth held fast to the ledge, attempting to get her first glimpse of Italy and–more importantly–Rome. More and more kids were sliding down the deck as if it were a slide. She heard a scream from the other end and chaos bubbling up back there. She only caught a few words ("Paula!" "Hold on!" "Rope!") but it was enough to know that there was an issue. Giving up the fight against gravity Annabeth allowed herself to slowly skid down the deck.

The descent took half a minute during which she was rammed into by a chair, whacked on her shoulder by a table, and squashed under Alta as she tumbled past, her Converse unable to slow her down (Annabeth thanked the gods that she decided not to wear hers that day). At last she found herself at the stern of the ship. Everyone was panicked: shouting orders, screaming about their claustrophobia, or just screaming because someone had fallen overboard.

Annabeth attempted and failed several times to regain her footing. Eventually she pushed her way through the commotion, striving to calm the disorder and alarm. "Will _someone_–oh, sorry–tell me wh–excuse me–what's going on? Who's–" Annabeth cut herself off. A short Roman girl who's name was something like Paul was hanging on what Annabeth used to believe was a useless rung at the side of the ship.

"Someone get some rope!" A voice called out.

"No! We need something easier to hold. Does anyone have a long sling?" Another asked.

"Guys! _Calm the HADES down!"_ Annabeth shouted. Nobody listened. A random word popped into her head. Maybe it would work. "_LAMPSHADE!_" Suddenly everyone went quiet and turned to her. The Greeks' expressions were questioning, and the Romans looked at her like she was insane. "Good. So someone's overboard, yes?"

"Paula." One of the Roman girls nodded.

"Well, rope isn't going to work. Neither is a giant sling. Well, maybe a giant sling would, but we don't have any of those."

"So what are you suggesting?" the annoying blond boy–Octagon? Annabeth honestly had no desire to even _try _to learn his name–questioned her. "That we just leaver her hanging until we land? She'll have lost her grip and will be dead by then! See, Romans? This is the true nature of a Graecus! They leave their comrades to die!"

Annabeth's temper flared. "No, we don't. Actually, I could list several ways that Greek demigods are in better hands than Romans are–"

"Stop! Guys, we've got a sit–" Annabeth shot Jason a silencing glare.

"You leave anyone too weak to die while we take them in and train them until they are strong enough to live on their own."

"But Greeks don't even have the proper skills to fight. You all just have your craftiness, but Romans on the other hand have that as well as a strength and a fierce loyalty to protect our culture."

Piper stepped up. Annabeth hadn't even noticed that during the argument, the ship had straightened out and some of the demigods had disappeared into their rooms or to various activities below deck or away from the tension of Annabeth and Octavian's argument. "Guys," she said, charmspeak lacing her voice. "Paula's still down the–"

"Get Ella," Annabeth snapped. She couldn't let Octavian win, and if she turned away from the fight, then he would. "She'll fly Paula up." Piper scurried off, probably not wanting to have much more to do with the dispute. Turning back to the spat, Annabeth glared at Octavian. "Well then obviously you don't have the smarts that we have."

Octavian let out what sounded like a prideful guffaw. "Ha! As if you _Greeks_ have any." 'Greeks' flew from his mouth like an insult. "Especially you with your blondness and obvious femininity could never even be capable ofdoing anything great." He spat.

Annabeth hardened her glare until even she could feel that it was hard as diamond. She unsheathed her dagger and pointed it at Octavian. "Do you know what you are?" She enunciated her words, making them slow, clear, deliberate, and intimidating. Octavian flinched and silenced up but got out his own weapon just in case. "You are a _stupid, idiotic_ _brat_ if you dare insult me like that. You don't even know what I've done, what I've achieved! I'm a daughter of Athena. One who's been on three quests, of which one of them was through the labyrinth that she led. Do you know whose laptop I own? Dedaelus's. He's the greatest architect of all time, and he entrusted me with it! I helped defend Olympus with Percy. I played a role in the first Great Prophecy. I was named official architect of Olympus by the gods! I redesigned it from next to nothing after it was destroyed during the war! I will have had designed all the monuments. And you even _dare_ to insult my intelligence? Why you–"

Annabeth would have leaped at Octavian and he would probably done the same to Annabeth if someone hadn't grabbed both of them roughly. Rachel was restraining Annabeth and Jason was holding back Octavian.

Rachel looked at Annabeth. "You know, Annabeth? As much as I hate Octavian, you can't attack him, okay? There's already been sever little squabbles like this between some people, but we can't have two well-known people from the two camps fighting or else that's just gonna make it worse." Then turning to a smirking Octavian said, "She's right, though. Never insult a child of Athena unless you want it to be your death."

Jason pulled Octavian back. "I've gotta have a word with you. I strictly said no provoking this kind of stuff, and you were supposed to obey me as praetor." He dragged Octavian along to the stairs, muttering. Once they were out of sight, Rachel let Annabeth go.

"You know, it's really embarrassing that I have to do this, but seriously, Annabeth! You're one of the most-looked-up-to people in camp!"

"One of the people who is most looked up to," Annabeth corrected Rachel's grammar under her breath. The daughter of Ares waved the comment away.

"If you start doing this, then the whole ship will have Greeks and Romans turned against each other! There's already tension between Percy and Jason, and if they get into a fight then it'll be even worse! The campers we left back down at camp are also getting agitated with the Romans in California. You've gotta stop fighting them and start fighting what's been bred into you!"

Annabeth sighed. "I know, but…" Her mind searched for any kind of reason for her behavior. Normally it would be enough to say that Octavian had insulted her intelligence, but the argument had started even before that. She sighed again. Rarely did Annabeth give up on anything, but right now the words just wouldn't come to her. She turned and headed over to where Piper, Ella, and Paula were sitting on the hard wood together.

"Wings. Appendage. Invertebrate. Animal. Eukaryotic. Organism. Biology. Natural science. Science. Knowledge. Facts. Experience. Concept. Philosophy. Thirteen links to get to philosophy from wings on Wikipedia. 'No matter what page you go onto on Wikipedia, if you keep clicking the first non-parenthesized link of the article, you will get to philosophy.' …" Ella chattered.

Paula sat huddled on the deck, in shock from her near-death experience that was caused by something other than monsters, giants, or Titans. She stared at Ella in thanks, awe, and as if she were scared of the harpy. Then again, no one else on earth could tell you exactly how a calculator works using a single paragraph from a textbook that actually made sense to _everyone_. As Paula watched Ella reciting things, Piper was calming her down with a small dose of charmspeak.

"It's nothing. You're back on deck now, yeah?" Piper reassured the quivering girl who nodded.

"I'm sorry, Piper," Annabeth apologized. "I really should have been there. I just… I don't know what came over me."

"No problem. At least, not _too_ much of a problem." Piper eyed Annabeth meaningfully. The situation was too awkward for Annabeth. Normally _she_ was the one giving people that look.

"Rachel gave me the whole lecture," Annabeth waved off the topic. "We should probably get going. We're probably–"

"Landing!" she got cut off by Leo's voice booming over the intercom system. "Ladies and gentlemen, if you look to your right you will see some old, battered, marble ruins surrounded by suburbs, downtown areas, etcetera, and if you look to your left you will see the same. If you want to get some _real _food, then I believe the Stolls are at the front awaiting everyone's orders. They have some place picked out and tables reserved. Don't ask me how. They are the _man_. Uh, mans? Men? Whatever. Of course, Reyna, if you would care to join me at a smaller, candle-lit dinner, then of course we can arrange for that."

Reyna just happened to be walking past the three girls and the Harpy at that time. She was muttering to herself in Latin. Something about stupid blacksmiths looking for dates they'd never get.

Annabeth stood up. "I've gotta go. Need to keep Travis and Conner in check."

"Nope! Nope!" Came a cry from above. "Annabeth and Rome. Nope. Not good, not good! _Wisdom's daughter walks alone, the mark of Athena burns through Rome._ Rome. Italy. Pizza, possibly the most popular traditional dish of all time, was created in Italy. Ella doesn't like Pizza. Too much cheese. Yep, yep. Lots of cheese. Cheese is bad for harpies. Bad, bad, bad."

By that point Annabeth had tuned Ella out. The words kept on circling her mind as she walked away despite Ella's warning. _Wisdom's daughter walks alone, the mark of Athena burns through Rome. Wisdom's daughter walks alone, the mark of Athena burns through Rome. Wisdom's daughter walks alone, the mark–_

"Come on, Annabeth! We're leaving without you!" Someone, maybe Katie, called from the crowd.

"I'll catch up. _Conner! Travis!_" She called over the mass of demigods. The elder of the two turned around. "No detours, okay?" Conner rolled his eyes but nodded.

_Wisdom's daughter walks alone, the mark of Athena burns through Rome. Wisdom's daughter walks alone, the mark of Athena burns through Rome. Wisdom's daughter walks alone, the mark of Athena burns through Rome. Wisdom's daughter walks alone, the mark of Athena burns through Rome. Wisdom's daughter walks alone, the mark of Athena burns through Rome. Wisdom's daughter walks alone, the mark of Athena burns through Rome._

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><p><strong>Peace out,<strong>

**PARTY JOLLY-O's!  
><strong>

**YAY!  
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**Don't like it?  
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**Then we're demigods.  
><strong>

**Too bad. I still prefer Party Jolly-O's.**

**Oh, YEAH! Wait... Wait... Oh, right! Pet peeve of mine: when people say that Conner and Travis are twins. They ARE NOT! Travis is a year younger than Conner... Or two years. But I'm pretty sure it's one.  
><strong>

**Wow, I'm hyper (in my mind, not my body. I'm frowning in real life right now.)  
><strong>

**YIPEE!  
><strong>

**Awesomely,  
>TWBG<br>**


	21. XXI Jason

**Hey, guys! Long time, no update, huh? Well, yesterday I went to the National Book Festival! YAY! It was awesome. :D I would have updated this weekend, but sadly I left one of my notebooks in my locker that had the beginning of this in it. :( Yeah, that stunk. But here it is! YAY! It's shorter than I expected, though. :(  
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><p>The cluster of demigods strolled together down the streets of Rome. Jason walked up near the front, hand in hand with Piper, where many of the Romans were walking. Everyone seemed to be having a merry time, laughing, talking; he could even see a few girls singing 'We're Off to See the Wizard' while skipping down the sidewalk. Jason turned his attention to Piper.<p>

"How you doing?"

"Fine," Piper sighed. She didn't look fine. Her face had turned pale and she seemed to be wound up pretty tight.

"Are you sure? Did I do something wrong?"

"No, you're okay," she smiled at him. "I don't know…. I just feel like I'm out of place or that something's going to go wrong."

"Like what."

"I don't know. Just–something."

Five minutes later they arrived at the restaurant. Jason had expected something inexpensive and low-profile. Instead he found himself standing in front of double doors with glass windows set in them. The floor had a soft, red carpet and the floors were sturdy, dark wood with smooth white tablecloths covering them there was an entertainment stage where a woman in a long pink dress sang out to the diners softly. Her hair was brown? No. Blonde? Reddish?

"Venus," Jason muttered at the same time Piper said, "Aphrodite."

They looked at each other.

"Yeah, Venus," Piper uttered. "Aphrodite would _not _be caught in that dress because it's '_So eighteenth century_'."

Jason laughed. It was true. Aphrodite was more modern while Venus preferred the olden days fashion.

Venus flashed a grin at the crowd as she sang, but then scowled glamorously at Jason when she spotted him. He felt Piper lean closer to him. "What's up with that?" she murmured in his ear. They slid into their booth seats across from Hazel and Frank.

"She doesn't like me," Jason replied. It was one of those memories that had seemed so unimportant when it returned that he didn't feel it was worth mentioning. "She came to camp when I was ten. That was back when Bobby and I were in one of our prankster stages. We were coming off the Fields of Mars after a game of deathball and then she appeared exactly where we had planted a HanniBomb–we'd had stable duty that morning after nearly blowing up the first cohort's cabin–and she got covered with elephant dung. We wouldn't have gotten caught if the praetor hadn't shouted us out."

Hazel and Frank laughed but Piper still looked fidgety. Jason looked at her worriedly. "You sure you're okay, Pipes?"

Piper nodded. When Leo approached their booth she visibly loosened up somewhat. A bolt of jealousy started through Jason's system but died when he saw Reyna begin to head their way, spot Leo, and turn away in disgust. His shoulders slumped as he watched her sauntering off in a 'too good for you' way. He'd kind of wanted her to sit with them.

"Jason!" Hazel waved her hand before his face.

Jason snapped out of his thoughts. "Huh? What?"

"What do you want?" That's when he noticed that the waitress had arrived.

"Elephant dung with a side of exploding salad?" the waitress suggested icily. Jason took her in and decided that she was a woman that he'd never seen before. Then he noticed that she was _definitely_ a goddess, but which one Jason didn't know. She wasn't Italian; that was for sure. She had dark hair and Latino skin. Her eyes were dark and seemingly endless. She looked very kind at a first glance but was definitely somebody Jason didn't want to get on the bad side of.

"Lady Venus still isn't…pleased about that incident."

"I'll just take the pepperoni," Jason replied cautiously, avoiding her glare.

"And you, dear?" the goddess turned to Piper, who was glaring at Jason.

"What?" he asked.

Piper rolled her eyes and pointed at the menu without looking.

"Um, Piper? Aren't you a vegetarian?" Hazel queried.

"Yeah," the daughter of Aphrodite said.

"So," said Frank, "You want a triple meat supreme pizza?"

Piper blushed. "Oh! Er, make that a veggie. And I'll take a side of the Romanian salad with a vinaigrette dressing."

The waitress/goddess nodded and scribbled something down quickly after gazing intently at each of them. Right after she walked away Leo broke the uncomfortable silence that had settled upon them after Piper had ordered.

"Well, that was awkward. Who was she, anyways? She seemed familiar somehow."

Hazel shook her head. "I don't know. I've never met her, but like Leo said, she seems familiar."

"I agree with Hazel," Frank added. He leaned closer and the rest of them did as well. Why? Jason didn't know. It just seemed like the right thing to do. "Definitely a goddess, but I've never met her. Maybe she seems familiar because of her kids or descendants?"

"That could be," Piper said. "She looks kind of like some kids from camp. I can't place whose kids they'd be, though." She shook her head; making the braid she wore swish across her back. Jason noted that she seemed to purposely be avoiding Jason's gaze and her face was still set in a firm, disapproving frown.

They all turned to Jason. Except for Piper. She was glaring intently at her cloth placemat as if daring it to insult her somehow. "I don't know. I've never met her either, and if she's a minor goddess," he leaned back against the booth's wood backing, "then I definitely don't know who she would be. Minor gods and goddesses didn't often have demigods and legacies that came to Camp Jupiter until after the Titan War, and only a few months after that Juno snatched me and placed me on that bus."

Once again the five of them were silent. They listened to Venus's singing and the incoherent chatter coming from the demigods and normal customers around them. Jason gazed around a bit and suddenly noticed that the two camps were sitting in two different sections of their reserved area. Jason's table was one of the two that had both Greeks and Romans. There was the one that Annabeth, Rachel, and Clarisse sat at with Reyna, Caroline, and Katrina but that was it. Even at that table the Greek girls were speaking more with each other than with the Roman girls and vice-versa. What was up with that? He glanced around his own table and saw that Hazel and Frank were speaking quietly with each other while Piper seemed to be sitting closer to Leo than to Jason.

When the waitress–a different one this time–arrived with their food they all dug in like there was no tomorrow. A moan escaped Jason's lips. It was like Elysium in the form of cheese. The others moaned in agreement as they got a taste of their own.

"This," Leo declared between two bites, "is the _best_ most _epically delicious_ stuff I have _ever _tasted in my life."

"Definitely," Frank agreed.

"Better than Pegasi Pizza," Hazel added.

Nothing much happened until their deserts came. Gelato with fortune cookies.

"I thought those things were Chinese," Jason said, perplexed.

"They're actually American, but Chinese places like to use them," Piper interjected. When they looked at her curiously, she said, "Annabeth." Then they all nodded in understanding.

"But still," Hazel ventured. "What are they doing in an Italian restaurant?"

"Dunno," Leo said, cracking his open. He read it and his eyes widened momentarily. "Just the regular old junk. 'You will find a peacock feather in your pants next Monday when you wash your pants.'" Jason noticed, though, that he stuffed the slip of paper into his pocket.

Cracking open his own, Jason began to read as he started on his gelato (that was amazing as well).

_Never trust a graecus. No matter how much you like her._

Jason threw a quick glance in Piper's direction. Did it…? No, it couldn't those things never came true. But still…. Piper's eyes grew darker as she read hers. She glanced quickly at Jason before turning away abruptly. The look on her face could have been Diana's if she saw Aphrodite: pure disgust. A torrent of thoughts rushed through Jason's mind. What had he done wrong? What had her fortune cookie said? What had Leo's said?

Jason's gaze passed around the restaurant. Only one other demigod seemed to have gotten one of these strange predictions. Her eyes bore straight into Jason's from across the room. Her face was slack with surprise.

_What had hers said?_

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><p><strong>Okay, so I think next time I update it won't be an actual chappie. It'll be what I had planned for this from here on, and then I'll post up the last two chapters of the story. Yep, I've already written them. :) But I haven't seem to have written much more. Well, it might end up only being the outline and stuff and then the last chapter depending on whether or not I can unearth the second-to-last one.<strong>

**If you are on team Camp Jupiter, you may use my profile pic for yours if you want to show your spirit! If you are team CHB, you'll have to go to DianeJasmine page and get the one that I sent to her and that she's hopefully going to post up. :)  
><strong>

**Awesome-dy-doo!  
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**Anyone been to the National Book Festival this last weekend? It was AWESOME!  
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	22. I Should've Done it for the Whole Story

******Hey, hey! Here's the plot that I promised you! I will have the epilogue up soon. I wasn't able to find the second-to-last chapter.**

**Have you guys seen thefandom . net? (ignore the spaces) Vote for PJO/HoO characters on the CotEC (Clash of the Epic Characters)!**

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><p><strong>MonstersPeople who should not be alive  
><strong>Medusa?  
>Circe<br>Tantalus?  
>King Eurystheus, Heracles' king?<br>Helen of Troy?  
>Minotaur?<p>

**Inside jokes (might not be used)  
><strong>Percy's perfect bearings at sea  
>Hoover Dam<br>Holy Cows  
>Supreme Lord of the Bathroom<p>

**Other  
><strong>Get close to rescuing Nico, but Rescue Thalia instead.  
>Go to the underworld?<br>P/J PC  
>Annabeth dies? NO! 1)flaming, 2) it SHOULD NEVER HAPPEN!<br>Mark of Athena burns through Rome = _**?**_

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><p><strong>Leo<strong>

Leo meets us with Nemesis (first waitress), who tells him he can get his mother back in exchange for either Percy or Annabeth (not their life, but handing them over). Leo gets extremely tempted but refuses offer. Nemesis gets angry and tells him he shouldn't have given it up. *Dun, dun, dun…*

He also keeps on using cheesy pickup lines on Reyna. Once, Reyna scolds him and he mutters under his breath in Spanish and she immediately reprimands him for it, also in Spanish. Then Leo's like "You see? We do have something in common after all!" And Reyna rolls her eyes and stalks away.

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><p><strong>PiperJason/Reyna Love Triangle**

Piper and Jason grow more distant because Jason seems to often be looking at Reyna and piper gets jealous and starts to turn away. Eventually they have a fight where they break up:

_They were in one of the few secluded areas on the Argo II: a dimly lit staircase leading down to a storage room. Piper had dragged Jason down there for Zeus-knew-what-reason. Now they stood barely a foot apart. As Jason gazed down into her eyes, he couldn't help but notice how similar they were right then to Reyna's._

"_Jason, this isn't going to work out," she said abruptly. "It just won't."_

"_What won't?"_

"Us_, dummy!"_

"_Well, we've been together since December, so I don't see why not…"_

_Piper glared up at him. Her voice was vicious when she finally spoke again. "Jason, I've seen how you look at Reyna."_

"_What do you mean?" His voice was rising._

"_You said there was nothing between you two when you first told me about her!"_

"_Well, there wasn't!"_

"_Really? Then why does she seem to be glaring at us every time we're together? Why do you always look at her? It started in that first restaurant we went to."_

"_I don't know what you mean, Piper. There is _nothing_ going on."_

"_Maybe not, but you probably want something to be." Jason couldn't help but realize that she was speaking the truth. She came up real close to him so that their noses almost touched. "You want to know what my fortune cookie said?" she asked. Her voice had lowered from a shout to a menacing whisper. "It said 'Romans and Greeks don't mix. _Ever._'"_

_Jason's voice caught in his throat as when he tried to speak. What was happening? Just a few minutes ago he'd been comforting her and now they were in a fight that could never be reversed._

"_What about yours?"_

"'_N–Never trust a greacus'," he murmured. "But Piper, that doesn't mean–"_

"_Doesn't mean what? Do you know who that waitress was? Leo knows. He says it was Nemesis."_

"_Piper–" Jason pleaded. He would have gone down on his knees, had there been enough room between them. "Piper. It might not be true. Things like that aren't always what they seem to be–"_

"_Maybe not," she cut in. "Maybe not." She spun away. Her hair brushing across his cheek might as well have been a slap in the face. He stumbled back into the wall. Halfway up to the landing Piper turned back to him. Her eyes were cold and emotionless. Jason would have given anything at that moment to know what she was thinking. "But maybe it's true." She let out a humorless laugh. "One of the first things I ever did when you came along was try to betray you. Maybe you shouldn't trust a Greek. After all, Romans and Greeks don't mix. Neither did the native Americans and the English settlers."_

_She turned away one final time. Watching her figure disappear into the shadows was the final straw. He cried out and hit the wall so hard his skin split open. He fell to his knees and sat there, not believing what had just happened. Had they just broken up? He felt a tear streak down his cheek and a familiar arm wrap around him._

Jason and Reyna begin to spend more time together, which leaves Piper with a longing for him. Reyna and Jason get close to going out, but Reyna has a talk with him:

"_Listen, Jason?"_

"_Yeah?"_

"_I was thinking, and I don't think we should be getting together."_

"_How–"_

"_I know you better than jut about anyone at Camp Jupiter does. I know what you're thinking most of the time, and I know how you think. You want to go out. We can't Maybe I did too, once, but now…." Reyna trailed of._

_Jason shook his head. "You do know me, I'll admit that. But why don't you want to? If Juno hadn't taken me, then we would probably be together by now."_

"_But Juno did take you," she replied softly. "And that changed everything. I would have fallen in love with you, and you with me most likely, but now we're just trying to reenact that. And the real thing is always better than a play. It just won't work."_

_Jason thought about that for a while. He scraped the toe of his sneaker against the sidewalk. "There's something more, isn't there? There's something you're not telling me. You don't need to tell me, but is there?" His optimistic mood had changed into a sad-toned one. No, not sad, but bittersweet._

"_To my side of the story? I don't know yet. To our side of the story? I just told it all to you. But to your side of the story? There's definitely something."_

_Jason's expression must have been pretty good, because Reyna cracked a smile. Sure, he'd seen her smile before, but not as often since he'd come back from the Greek camp._

"_I guess you don't even know it, huh? After your breakup with Piper…. Well, you didn't see her when she went up the stairs. She was crying also. Neither of you wanted it. Piper makes you happy, Jason. I've seen the way you look at her. I've also seen the way you look at me. You won't be as happy with me as you were with her."_

_Jason tore his gaze from her face and looked down at his feet. Right, left, right left.–the constant rhythm of walking–left, right, left, right. "She won't want to get back together. She's got more pride than that. Even if she wants to, she won't."_

_Reyna was silent for so long that Jason had to look up and check that he hadn't left her behind. "No," she finally said. "I suppose she wouldn't."_

So Reyna and Jason just stay good friends; what they were before Jason disappeared. Jason apologizes to Piper. She says "What for? I should be the one apologizing." He replies, "I didn't realize what you really meant to me. I know it's the most overused reason, but it's true." They don't get back together, but Piper says, "We'll see. I don't know about now, but maybe later. I've just got to think it over."

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><p><strong>Annabeth<strong>

When she's in her group with Percy, Ella, and Will, she they go to the Pantheon, where, as they're entering, they find a piece of the ground that slides a bit. After checking that no one is watching, they slide it over and it reveals a portion of a stair that used to be there, before they paved over the roads in modern days. On the step are some odd symbols. They quickly jot it down in a notebook and hurry away before anyone sees them.

Later, they go to the Roman forum. Annabeth notices that there's a pillar that, though quite broken down, seems to be placed just a slight bit wrongly. At the base of it, she feels engravings. Using a paper and pencil, they are able to see the words on the paper. They are also odd symbols.

Annabeth and Ella spend many nights awake together, attempting to figure out the code. Well, more like Annabeth stares at the codes, thinking of different things it could be, asks Ella questions she would normally need many books or an encyclopedia for, and Ella answers her and spurts things out randomly that help a bit.

When they get to a spa that Venus directed Reyna to go to (she went with the seven) and they find out that it's Circe's spa, Annabeth gets a bit of insight from Circe that they need to go to the unexcavated parts of the Coliseum. When they go there and search the tunnels, she and Leo follow a trail by the foundations because Annabeth thinks that they're placed oddly since they didn't need that extra row of foundations to keep it up for so long. Eventually they find an underground room and thanks to Leo's mechanical-sensing ability they find a marble tile that's a wrong shape. They lift it up and find a piece of parchment underneath. The parchment has the same symbols that the other signs did.

That night she and Ella go over the papers together. Annabeth ends up stacking them up and shining a light underneath. We (even I) never find out what it says, but she tells Ella that they've got to go. The other demigods find out that Annabeth and Ella are missing so they go after her. Percy and Jason fight about if they should try to find Annabeth or try to find the doors of death, because Frank just had a dream that they had to leave for Greece the next morning. Tyson sides with Percy, except saying "Ella. We must find Ella." Then Piper steps in and yells at them and says that they should probably do both, seeing as that Annabeth ("And Ella," Piper nodded at Tyson) would probably be going to the doors of death and didn't bring anyone because they would slow her down and because she thought she could handle it on her own. Percy thinks that it's uncharacteristic of Annabeth to think she could handle that on her own. ("She's not proud and stupid, she's proud and smart.")

Percy scours her room and eventually finds a note on the desk that says "Coliseum. Will be back soon." So the demigods make their way to the Coliseum and get there just in time. They hear two girls scream and then a bunch of howls and growling. They run in and there are tons of monsters. Annabeth and Thalia are just running into the arena and are being followed by a pack of hellhounds. So Greeks and Romans work together to defeat them.

The giant Mimas (bane of Hephaestus) comes out and tries to destroy the demigods. He is immune to regular fire though he doesn't breathe it. Eventually he and Leo battle it out. After quite a while of the giant chasing Leo around and Leo trying to get lucky with a shot of fire, Leo picks up a celestial bronze sword that was littered on the ground. His hands, which are still ablaze, ignite the sword, though he doesn't understand how that could be possible. He channels all the fire he can through the sword and it comes out as Greek fire and burns Mimas.

_The giant burned a brilliant green for a few seconds until he was only ash._

"_Yeah," Leo said weakly. "You've just been fired by the son of Hephaestus." He felt himself fall to his knees and the world went black._

There is one death (Maria, Roman demigod, daughter of Maia) and many injuries. Everyone gets to the ship okay, except Leo is still unconscious from the amount of energy he put into defeating the giant.

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><p><strong>Epilogue in next chapter. Will post it either later tonight or tomorrow. It will answer some questions you may have.<strong>

**I expect to see Reyna beat Luna Lovegood (sorry, Luna!) and Thalia to beat Draco Malfoy on the next round of character clashes on thefandom . net (ignore the spaces). You can vote on them a many times as you want so PLEASE VOTE FOR PJO/HoO characters! So far the PJO fandom has NOT LOST A ROUND!**


	23. Epilogue Leo

**Here is the final chapter to my story. It's sad to see it go... But hey, the real thing will arrive in hardback at my door after school. I hope it's got even better Leyna than I have. DO NOT SPOIL THE BOOK IN REVIEWS, PLEASE!**

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><p>Nothing happened. He thought he heard someone crying softly and saying something, but it was like he was drowning and getting deeper every minute but the person was on the other side of the surface. He felt himself slipping away. Then the darkness left. He saw some doors in front of him and wondered what might be on the inside. He pulled them open. Grey people were lounging in chairs. A few were pounding on an elevator door, yelling. Then it felt like he'd pushed a pin into a socket. He was jolted and then he was back in a deep chasm of blackness.<p>

The first time Leo woke up he heard two voices speaking in hushed tones. They both sounded like girls, but Leo couldn't be sure. His head was killing him. He was hungry. His body ached all over. His vision was blurred and it felt like cotton balls had been stuffed up is nose, in his mouth and ears, and in every pore of his body. He tried to roll over in the bed he was in to face the voices but couldn't. He groaned softly in agony. He felt like he was on fire and wasn't fireproof. The two people rushed over and leaned over him. They said something but Leo couldn't make it out. He squinted up at them. It was hard to tell what they looked like with the light coming in from the windows and his blurry vision, but it looked like one had lighter hair and one had darker hair. One of them nudged him softly and said something that came through as "Mpuphmnuph" to Leo's brain. The blackness took him again.

The next time Leo woke he didn't feel much better. He could see and hear a bit more clearly and his body only felt like it was lying on hot coals (once again what he thought it would feel like if he weren't fireproof). He tried to turn away from the window, but someone ran up to him and told him to stop. She said something about him burning up, but nothing else made it through before Leo slipped back into unconsciousness.

This time Leo saw his mom. She was standing in an endless grey field.

"I'm so proud of you, _mijo._" She smiled proudly at Leo and he felt his heart leap into his throat.

"Mom?"

"Yes, _mijo_, it's me."

Leo ran up and tried to hug her, but his arms passed through her as if she were a ghost. Then Leo realized that she _was _a ghost. She looked up at him sadly. Only then did Leo realize how much time had passed. He'd grown taller than she had been when she'd died. It felt wrong. He felt like he should still be barely as hall as her chest.

"I'm so proud of you. You've done so much."

"I haven't done anything."

"Yes you have. You saved your friends, you found out who you are, you've done great things and you will continue to do more."

"I didn't rescue you."

His mother was silent for a while before responding. "If I came back," she said carefully, "I would not be happy. I don't belong where you do, Leo. I am dead. I have been for eight years. I will stay here forever, as a soul, until the end of time. When you get here, you will not see me. But you will not need to. You will be where heroes go. I am happy here. If I came back, it would be worse for both you and me the second time we are separated."

"You– You're saying this is–"

"The last time you will see me. The doors of death have been closed. This connection will break soon. But _mijo_, just know how proud I am of you. No matter what you do, where you go, I will always be proud of you. I will always love you."

Leo was surprised to feel tears streaming down his cheeks. "I–" his voice broke. "I love you." His mom gave him one last ghostly hug before the underworld erupted in flames and he stood in his lonely black expanse again.

The last time Leo woke up, Jason was sitting in one corner of the room on a chair while polishing his sword.

"Jason?" Leo croaked. His throat was dry and scratchy, as was his voice.

"Dude! Oh, gods, Leo, you're awake! And for good, it looks like."

"What happened?"

"We thought you were dead," Thalia said. Leo jumped when he heard her voice. She was sitting in the corner across from Jason. It seemed that they'd been talking about something important.

"I–what?"

"We dragged you back here. After you killed the giant you passed out from lack of energy."

"Then," Jason continued, "you…." He looked like he wasn't sure if he should finish. "You began to die…. Your skin was getting all cold and your breathing was getting slower, and…."

"And Jason here zapped you back to life. Like with one of those electric pulse regulator things? Except with his own electricity." Thalia smiled proudly at Jason.

"Erm, yeah…. So for the last three days–" Jason began to speak again.

"I was out for three days?" Leo interrupted.

"Yeah. And, well, we took turns waiting for you to wake up and feeding you ambrosia pudding and making sure you didn't burn the bed sheets or the whole bed.

Leo must have had a pretty good _what? _Face because Thalia cracked a smile and elaborated. "Several times you, er, overheated. It was preferable to when you were getting cold because you're apparently immune to fire. Of course, I didn't know that when I was here during lunch the other day and you were like, _simmering_ with heat and you literally began to fire up, so I freaked."

Leo suddenly felt drained. He leaned back into his pillow. "I destroyed a giant?" he asked, incredulous. The shock was late, but it was there. "All by myself? With my fire? But don't giants only die when a demigod and god work together?

Jason nodded uneasily. "Annabeth took the sword in to study it–that one that you channeled your fire through. Hazel helped her. There were some symbols on the blade that Hazel knew. They say it's a god's blade, maybe Hecate's, but they're pretty sure it's not."

"Then whose is it?"

"They said it probably belongs to Nemesis. If they're right…just hope it's Hecate's." Leo thoroughly agreed. Jason checked his watch. "It's dinner. You want us to bring something back for you?"

Leo shook his head. "Nah. I'm still pretty wiped. I think I'll go to sleep early." Mainly he just didn't want to be so dependent on the others. They'd been _spoon feeding _him for the last three days.

Thalia looked at him doubtfully. Once, Leo would have counted that as a score (especially since she'd sworn off boys), but now Leo knew better. She wouldn't even _consider _falling for him. It was also…unsatisfying somehow. He really didn't care about finding a girl now. It was odd, he though.

"I won't catch fire," Leo promised, holding his hands up in a gesture of surrender.

"Good. Because if I have to throw another bucket of water over you…." Her threat hung in the air. Once she and Jason had departed, Leo let his mind wander until he fell asleep.

He saw Nemesis, whip always at the hip, in a flowing Greek dress. She somehow managed to make the elegance of it look intimidating.

"I've let you go once and helped you once, as well. Now you owe twice the debt that you owed me before."

"So you're here to tell me what I owe you? Leo asked hopefully.

"No, I'm telling you to watch your back."

"How does that even make sense? You're warning me to do what you don't want me to do?"

"It's not a matter of only you and me. All demigods must watch their backs for the horrors to come from Gaea."

"And you're telling me this _why_, again?"

"Foolish boy! I do not wish for the downfall of the Gods! Am I not a god myself?"

"But didn't you side with Kronos during the war?" It seemed a simple enough question, but Nemesis didn't take it woo well.

"That is not relevant at the moment," she huffed. Her eyes were scolding and so filled with anger that Leo flinched.

"Must I warn you again, son of Hephaestus, to not get on my bad side? I have now helped you twice and given you mercy once."

"Helped me?" Leo couldn't help it. She'd done nothing of the sort. "You made things less clear, if anything!"

"We'll see about that. Now go!"

Leo jerked awake.

"Leo!" A girl rushed over and punched his shoulder–_hard_.

"Reyna?"

"Don't you ever do that to me again!"

"What, sleep?" Now Leo was even more confused.

"You almost died!" she exclaimed. Then she hugged him.

_Hugged him_!

Reyna: cold-hearted, unbreakable, very fine-looking, out-of his league Reyna _hugged him_. Bells were going off in Leo's head. Now _this _was the ultimate score!

"But you're alive," she said before pulling away. Were those…_tears_ he saw forming in her eyes? He blinked and they were gone. "Breakfast starts in five. You better be up there, fireboy."

"Fireboy?"

She left the room before responding. The moment he got out of bed in his rumpled shirt and pants Lacy poked her head in as she was passing by.

"She's been here every day since we got back, more than the others. Sometimes she would come to check up on you during the night." She turned back and walked away.

_This_, Leo thought, _is the best day of my life._

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><p><strong>Thank you to sunsetWarriors for helping me with the plot and to all readers and reviewers for their constant support, and to all my friends who put up with my endless ranting and fangirling (in person and over email). I love you guys!<strong>_  
><em>


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